I guess I will be the only one to put disparagement on this beloved work which anybody on the site praises to the skies.Frankly I do not like it ,not at all.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS:the screenplay is not that much strong,and the suspense is not really here.The first hour is boring and what remains is a spate of clichés:best/worst example:the killer,leaving "clues" on the dead body ,I've seen it (and read it) so many times that it leaves me amazed :how can a writer ,fifty years or so after Agatha Christie and co,still think of a such hackneyed idea?Giving the killer's identity or the key to the mystery half an hour or more before the ending can be rewarding (such was the case in "vertigo" (1958)),but here ,it destroys any fear:who could reasonably think that the hero -and his girl-could be really in jeopardy after that?Only a whodunit could sustain the interest till the very end.

But there's something more annoying:one of the characters is unbearable,the notorious Jens:the scene in the restaurant with the prostitute makes me sick:this bourgeois student really demeans this girl thanks to the power of his dough.Seeing him humiliate this human being while taking out his banknotes is one of the most despicable scenes I've seen in years ;and that does not make the "hero"-who's watching- nicer either.Besides guess who will be sacrificed when the others will survive?Another gratuitous scene which comes at the most awkward moment involves Jens and his priest girlfriend in the church .It's really nauseating.That makes the very last scene even more disgusting.And you know ,I 'm far from being holier-than-thou.

I know a lot of people will disagree... but once more,there's no accounting for taste.