Les Granges Brulees (aka The Burned Barns) (1973)

Set in the French countryside bordering Switzerland, the body of a young woman is found savagely murdered near an isolated farm. Suspicion falls on the family who own the farm which is ruled by a determined matriarch (Simone Signoret). The investigating policeman (Alain Delon) suspects that one of her two sons (Bernard Le Coq, Pierre Rosseau) may have played a role in the killing and she is protecting them. Directed by Jean Chapot (LA VOLEUSE), the movie plays out like a murder mystery but the focus isn't so much on finding the killer as how the suspicions and the investigation affect the farm family and the secrets and lies which may or may not have anything to do with the murder that they've been hiding are revealed. The film benefits from the screen presence of those two French film icons, Delon and Signoret. Delon's character isn't very interesting so it's Signoret who holds the film together. Not essential cinema but I quite liked it. With Renato Salvatori, Miou Miou, Paul Crauchet and Catherine Allegret.