The Taste of Violence Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

The Taste of Violence Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 16, 2025

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of the Wicked Games: Three Films by Robert Hossein set from Radiance Films.

As an actor, Robert Hossein is probably best remembered on this side of the pond for his supporting role in Jules Dassin's iconic Rififi, but as a so-called "multi-hyphenate" he had a rather interesting career as both a writer and director, including the three films Radiance has aggregated in this appealing new collection. The set includes The Wicked Go to Hell, Hossein's debut as director and (co-)writer, which came out in 1955, the same year as Rififi. After a 1956 effort called Pardonnez nos offences, Hossein took on sole writing credit in addition to directing with 1959's Nude in a White Car (as it's titled here, though there are multiple variant titles, including the original French Toi, le venin). Two other interstitial films, 1959's Double Agents and 1960's Les scélérats, appeared before the final film offered in this triptych, 1961's The Taste of Violence. Two of the three films in this set, as well as some of Hossein's other efforts, are based on novels by Frédéric Dard.

Could Tarsem Singh possibly have seen The Taste of Violence at some point? There's a really fascinating moment early in this film that is more or less a so-called tableau vivant which in a very real way seems to presage the arresting opening montage at the beginning of The Fall. As with the Singh film, it features a train, albeit this one beseiged by a bunch of assumed revolutionaries led by Perez (Robert Hossein). The actual attack is literally clouded in the presentation, leading to a strange, almost hypnotic, assortment of scenes with Perez's triumphant army standing in what amounts to a still life, with only the steam from the locomotive belying the fact that this is in fact a moving picture.

What ensues is an unlikely "road trip" between Perez and a hostage named Maria Laragana (Giovanna Ralli), who has an important familial connection that Perez wants to take advantage of. While maybe not "classic" Stockholm Syndrome, suffice it to say that Maria's initial (understandable) umbrage at being taken hostage may slowly begin to morph as she gets to know Perez and his "movement" better. A number of the supplements here tout this film as a so-called "Zapata" entry even if the country in this revolutionary tale is not explicitly defined as being Mexico. What is quite interesting and maybe prescient in terms of later Spaghetti Westerns is a frankly nihilistic tone that seems to suggest violence only begets violence and ultimately there may not be anything to do be done about that.

The Taste of Violence Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Taste of Violence is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Radiance Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Radiance's insert booklet lumps the three films together for pretty minimal information on the provenance of the transfers:

Each film in this collection was restored in 2K by Gaumont. Additional colour correction was applied to The Taste of Violence by Radiance for this release. The films were supplied to Radiance Films as digital files and are presented in the original aspect ratio.

This is the sole film in this set with any prefatory text mentioning a restoration, in this case a quick text card documenting the fact that the film was "restored and digitised in 2016 by the CNC". The above mention of "colour correction" by Radiance may seem a bit strange given the fact that this is a black and white feature, but it was in fact what I assumed was a somewhat wan accounting of contrast in this presentation that caught my eye on first viewing, something that may hint at corrections that needed to be made to properly delineate gray scale. While arguably not quite at the excellent levels seen in the other two films in this set, this is still often a very impressive looking transfer, with some commendable fine detail levels on things like costumes and even the hardscrabble location backgrounds. Grain resolves without any issues.

The Taste of Violence Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Taste of Violence features LPCM Mono audio in the original French. There's some distortion during the Gaumont masthead music, but once the expressive sound effects of the train and ensuing carnage begin, the track doesn't really have any other issues. Sound effects are especially well utilized throughout the film, and a "folk" score by Hossein's father André also is nicely presented (there may be just the slightest hint of breakup in some of the choral moments, as in the closing credits music). Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available. My score is 3.75.

The Taste of Violence Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Tim Lucas


• Alex Cox (HD; 7:24) offers his thoughts on the film in this newly produced piece.


• C. Courtney Joyner (HD; 26:24) gets into the so-called Zapata Western idiom and how The Taste of Violence is a representative.


• Trailer (HD; 2:54)

The Taste of Violence Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Marina Vlady is on hand in an interview in another disc in this collection kind of ruefully joking how she and Robert co-produced the very successful Nude in a White Car, but saw no money for their efforts. On the other end of the box office spectrum, The Taste of Violence was evidently met with pretty uniform apathy when it was initially released, but it certainly seems like a film well ahead of its time in both subtext and some presentational flourishes. Technical merits are generally solid and the supplements informative and enjoyable. Recommended.