Kirpianuscus ...of a different Paris, different love story and images of cops. a precise and impressive film. for the portraits of characters. for the science to escape from cliches circle, for the inspired way to tell a dirty, insignificant, ordinary story, using each of its nuances in admirable manner. a woman. and her man. and the Police as the shark in the essence of relationship who could be normal. it is easy to define it as a film with a great cast , from Maurice Ronet and young Tcheky Karyo to Nathalie Baye. but the authentic star of film remains Phililipe Leotard, giving a dramatic performance. so, a revelation. at each new view. because it represents the realistic portrait of a world who seems, from so many (American) films, well known.

charles-paxton-martin One of the great French bad-cop bad-cop thrillers, which I remember vividly from years ago. I love that the supposed criminals were so well characterized, not like today's shoot-em-ups. Recommended, and I will buy it again, if it has subtitles. (I speak French, but it's sort of rusty, and the fascinating Parisian slang can be hard to follow.)

writers_reign This is one of those realistic polars where you can't tell the cops from the hoods without a scorecard. The premise is simplicity itself; the star balance (informer) of the Belleville district is assassinated in the first minutes leaving the local cops with a vacancy to fill. Their thinking turns to Dede (Leotard) a small time pimp with only one client (Nathalie Baye) who is reluctant to say the least. The name Dede or its female version Dedee is something of a constant in French movies, in 1948, Simone Signoret played Dedee of Anvers (a hooker) for her then husband Yves Allegret, but that's just an aside. Baye and Leotard had been an item in real-life but had broken up by the time the film was shot largely due to Leotard's drink and drugs problem but the genuine affection between them informs every scene they play together. The main thrust of the plot involves Belleville's Mr 'Big' (Maurice Ronet) and his 'enforcer', Belge, a certified ding-dong (or, if you're French, dingue-dong). Shot by Illinois-born Bob Swaim, this is in the finest tradition of the 'polar' with outstanding ensemble acting - and we really should mention multi-talented Richard Berry as Leotard's nemesis - and a great set-piece involving a multi-car pile up and a shoot-out in the street. Definitely one of the all-time great post-war French polars.

steve_b33 Watched this last night - a belting French Cops and Robbers drama set among the Paris version of the flying squad. It opens with their main informant being murdered and they need replacement to get Mr Big.They lean on a Dede (Philippe Léotard) a small time crook and pimp and his whore/girlfriend(Nathalie Baye) to persuade them to snitch on Messina.They use threats,beatings - in fact anything to get a result. The cops are played in a very unsympathetic light - the're really thugs who bend the law to suit their ends.Interestingly both Dede and Nicole are are much more attractive characters - he's her pimp but he loves her as she loves him. You really care about them as they are exploited by the cops who don't care what happens to them as long as they get their villian. There are car chases and shoot-outs aplenty but its the central relationship that lifts this above your average cop movie.All the leads are well played and you hope things will work out for Dede and Nicloe but you know life isn't like that.Not an obvious ending either and directed with an intesity by Bob Swaim who films it almost as a documentry so real is the gritty feel of the Parisian undwerworld.Highly reccomended.