Police

A superficially genial cop (Depardieu) cross-examines a Tunisian drug-dealer. The can of worms is opened, and Depardieu plunges in, laying about the Parisian Arab community, doing deals with their corrupt lawyer, and with a woman (Marceau) who has stolen a suitcase of money. It is all going tougher and more furious than any other recent policier, when the film abruptly changes gear and becomes the chronicle of Depardieu's ill-fated amour for Marceau, a chronic liar, and deep in sin. Pialat is heir to the misanthropic strain in French culture, and dwells at great length on the uncomfortably real. There is no one else who pushes his actors to such uncomfortable extremes. If you want a thriller, then you're in for a rough ride; this is about tension, conflict and hostility, and almost all of it between man and woman. CPea.