Very good, solid French thriller from Director, Jose Giovanni, who also wrote the script. Police are supposed to be searching for key witness in an important trial and give the task to an out of favour cop, known for a tendency to get the job done by whatever means. The marvellous, Lino Ventura is that cop and almost as an aside he's given a rookie assistant played by Marlene Jobert. It is an early film for her but she had already been in Louis Malle's, Thief of Paris and Godard's, Masculin Feminin! Both are great in this and just as well because they are the film as we follow them around the outskirts of Paris, following clue by clue. Much of the film is clearly shot in the streets and is really well done. Being French there is always time to stop off in a cafe or bistro and these slower scenes are also very well done. This doesn't sound particularly thrilling but it is faultlessly put together and never lets up as we race from corner to corner of those charming Parisian streets.
Keywords: murdergangsterneo-noirpolice detective
Plot summary
Police inspector Léonetti, a tough, efficient policeman, has been sent to a second-rate police station after being reprimanded. There he is given a partner, young and beautiful Jeanne Dumas. The duo are soon assigned a very difficult mission: to find a man whose evidence is instrumental in convicting a murderer. They start searching throughout Paris...
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faultlessly put together and never lets up
Bitter ballad in Paris
If you are not French and dream to visit Paris, this outstanding anti heroes story may help you. I have rarely seen a movie depicting a Paris in such a way, thru an investigation. But I also warn you about this unpredictable tale, which will leave a bad taste in the mouth, that's precisely why I love lhis film, that glues you to your seat from beginning to the end. This sensitive way to describe unexpected characters is unforgettable because so disillusioned. But there is just a little goof in the story. Near the end of the film, when the two cops search for the witness and his daughter, they visit a doctor supposed to have this witness and his child as patient; the doctor says that the man and child come to visit him every FIVE WEEKS. And despite the fact that the last visit was precisely five weeks ago, the doctor secretary is able to describe the way the little girl is.dressed. With great accuracy, though she came five weeks ago, no matter she can be dressed in another way. But that's a detail, it doesn't diminish the quality of this very very sad film, among the best of Giovanni. This was one of the - if not the first - crime movies involving buddy policemen, and especially a woman, eleven years before Miou Miou in LA FEMME FLIC. Michel Constantin, despite his more than supporting character, gives a terrific and terrifying performance, watch out the scene where he hits Lino Ventura in the ribs, in a so brutal, fierce, sadistic way, watch his face, his gruesome mean face. He rarely, if never had this face in any of the films he played in.
Lino Ventura and Marlène Jobert are the whole show...
In a nutshell, I'd call this police drama 'pretty good'. But not nearly as excellent as some reviewers have made it out to be. On the plus side are the standout performances of tough cop Lino Ventura and his rookie assistant, the enchanting Marlène Jobert.
In the early 1970s Jobert was probably France's most in-demand actress, so lovely and so endearing that it was hard not to fall in love with her. I succombed immediately on seeing her irresistible performance in René Clément's classic Rider on the Rain, where she is perfectly paired with the redoubtable Charles Bronson.
Also on the plus side are many gorgeous glimpses of Paris, by day and by night. On the minus side though, is the contrived drama of the movie. Like many French police films of the period, it tries too hard to be more than a police story. It strives to be a meaningful essay on modern society, morality and lost illusions.
Still, it's pretty good, and if you're a fan of directors like Sidney Lumet, Arthur Penn and Elia Kazan, you'll probably find a great deal to like in Dernier domicile connu.
But if your taste runs more toward Alfred Hitchcock and Fritz Lang, you can skip this one and go directly to Rider on the Rain.