Skip to main content

"Un flic" (1972) - double meaning if you speak French and American slang

Google Plot summary: ¿A movie about a Paris police chief whose life investigating violent crimes has left him despondent. After beginning an affair with a beautiful but cold woman named Cathy, he befriends her boyfriend, Simon, a local nightclub owner?

Uh yeah - that is not really what this movie is about. This is a heist film - more akin to “The Thomas Crowne Affair” (1968)/(1999),  “Heist” (2001), or “The Score” (2001). Except: a) the focus is on the policeman rather than the criminals b) it doesn’t have a happy ending c) no one wins.


Yes the Cop does have an affair with Cathy under the nose of her boyfriend Simon - but Simon & Cathy are manipulating him while they stage their caper. The cop is brutal in his pursuit of the criminal gang. There is a great female actor playing a transvestite homosexual man who is a snitch. The cop is cruel to her, taking her information and resenting / abusing her for it. The cop is indeed despondent, but his response is not depression. It is anger and violence. 


The movie includes several action sequences including a 20+ minute sequence cut in real time of the main crime that is riveting. I squirmed in my chair. I am pretty sure Chrysler corporation sponsored the film - so many Dodge cars on the streets of France.


I watched because it stars Catherine Deneuve (hubba hubba), and I thought it was cool to see Richard Crenna & Michael Conrad in a French film. Crenna sounds like he read the lines in ADR. I am pretty sure someone else was speaking for Conrad. You can watch it with or without subtitles - there really is not much dialogue.


This was the last movie directed by Jean-Pierre Melville before he died the following year. Melville is supposedly the spiritual father of French New Wave art film. While I am not sure what that means - this picture is dramatic, exciting, and tragic. The scenes, characters, and editing are great. I can understand how it would influence other filmmakers. It is a great piece of storytelling.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Thing in the Basement

What do you do if you have 6th, 7th, and 12th place finishers in the 'Michael Stivic look-a-like contest - and a product placement deal with Budweiser?  You get Rick Baker's neighbor (other side of the street, a few doors down) to make you a creature costume. Then you go get the writer who did a day's work punching up one poker scene for an episode of MASH but got fired for refusing footwear on the set. In 1973, you could get a Thompson machine gun and grenades practically everywhere - so that is no problem. Then you grab you 8mm camera and put it to work on your singular masterpiece.  Really - this is fun. I could not put a name to who Fernman reminded me of, but I did think the art director did a fantastic job capturing his je ne sais quoi with the skull. Soundtrack is great. Last thing (if you were wondering): YES, this is in the same cinematic universe as "Drop Dead Fred" - this is the Fred who was hanging out with Phoebe Cates.
Post a Comment
Read more

Con Air (1997) - another example of the Jacob's ladder effect

As we work our way through Merry Cage-mas, an argument could be made that "Con Air" is a fever dream Nick Cage's character has just before dying during that opening bar fight. 1) Monica Potter has abs of steel and is supposedly pregnant with their daughter. She is so not pregnant looking. So much so that, I do not know how they would have been far enough along to ultrasound the embryo. Additionally, he has just walked off a fishing boat into the bar she works at after getting home from deployment - when was the child conceived? 2) Nick Cage is immediately arrested and  sentenced to seven years in prison. During the film he writes & received fully formed letters from this child. In them, he talks about all the things they used to do with each other. When did these things happen?  3) Upon making his way into the titular 'Con Air' plane, Nick Cage has a shrink wrapped bunny rabbit doll he bought for this little girl as a present. Where did that come from? The pri...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fences (2016)

Fences (2016) is nominally a story about being black in the United States of America in the 1950's. 'Troy' is a disaffected working man that never really had a chance. He is unable to make sense of an unfair world. Viola Davis doesn't get as much screen time (this is Denzel's movie), but when she is let on the scene, she destroys. 'Rose' is setting herself aside to make a life & family despite very little prospects for measurable happiness. Based on an August Wilson play - the magic of his writing is that at its root, this story is about people who set aside themselves for "existence". All people yearn for happiness on this world from their achievements (at least to achieve 'success' & 'happiness' relative to people around them). People want to proclaim they are in control of their situations. People want to be treated generously and with respect. People think that the world, society, economy, and people around them should a...
Post a Comment
Read more