The French Detective (1975)
When political thugs murder an opponent's volunteer and also kill a cop, chief inspector Verjeat believes the politician who hired them is as guilty as the murderous goon. Verjeat's pursuit of the councilman, Lardatte, gets him a warning from his superiors. When he embarrasses Lardatte while disarming a hostage (the dead volunteer's father), Verjeat is told he's being transferred within a week. He speeds up his hunt for the goon and, with Lefévre, one of his young detectives, he engineers a complicated scheme to buy more time before the transfer. How should Verjeat play out his values of honor and duty?
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everything you have heard about this movie is true.
It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.
The acting in this movie is really good.
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
I saw this French cop/buddy film when it originally ran in New York City for a limited time. I still remember the basics. Lino Ventura was sensational as usual, his sardonic, mistrusting self, and Dewaere was great as his partner. They made an enjoyable team, something I can't say for most cop/buddy films. Dewaere took his own life just a few years later, a very sad finale for an excellent actor. I'd love to see this film again but it has never surfaced on tape or disc and never airs on TV. But no worries, with satellite, I have an endless pile of worthless crap movies to surf through while good films like this languish in a vault, forgotten.
....were very trendy in France during the seventies ,in the wake of the events of May 68."Adieu Poulet" is a watchable ,if not particularly memorable effort in the field.Lino Ventura and Patrick Dewaere -whose career had just begun and sadly would be short-lived- make a solid team .They have to fight against a far-right politician (of the P.R.U party (whose motto is "Moral and Order" ) played by Victor Lanoux.The script was written by Francis Veber ("la Chèvre" "le Dîner de Cons" )and it was filmed on location in Rouen.Pierre Granier-Deferre made good "Cinema de Qualité".
In the French city of Rouen an election is marred by a fight between the supporters of two of the candidates. In the fracas a man is beaten to death and the killer then shoots a passing police officer! The officer has time to warn his colleagues that the killer is Proctor (Claude Brosset), a well-known thug whose brother is campaigning on behalf of law and order candidate Lardatte (Victor Lanoux)!Commissaire Verjeat's (Lino Ventura) pursuit of Proctor is hampered by Lardatte for whom he has a personal dislike and misses no opportunity to humiliate. As a result he then finds himself with a very short time to capture Proctor, since he faces a promotion and a posting outside of Rouen, which will take him off the case. Verjeat is sure that this is courtesy of Lardatte and his police contacts! To cap it all, his sidekick, the eccentric Inspector Lefevre (Patrick Dewaere), implicates them both in a case of police corruption!This French police drama focuses mainly on the politics of the police department and the often dubious relationship between police, criminals and politicians. What could be a routine docu-drama is enlivened by the contrasting performances of the no-nonsense Ventura and jester-like Dewaere. And there are also exciting moments like a siege of the city hall and an attempted arrest of Proctor, which is ruined when Lefevre's change falls out of his pocket!
Cop movie was truly a big part of French cinema in the 60's and the 70's. And this one is true to the genre. Granier-Deferre is able to make us care for commissaire Vergeat, the cop who's ready to use unorthodox ways to catch the bad guy. But Vergeat's way of doing things gets him into trouble. He's got to play politics. Ah! poor Vergeat!One last thing: Lino Ventura does a terrific job playing the commissaire.Out of 100, I give Adieu Poulet 82. That's good for *** out of ****.Seen at home, in Toronto, on September 11th, 2002.