Three plainclothes cops have to arrange a drug-busting operation in the crime-ridden working class neighbourhoods of Marseilles. To obtain the required intel they need to give several kilograms of hashish to an informant; unable to use that in the police vault they start seizing drugs from small-time buyers, stashing them at home. The operation is a success but there will be a price to pay.
The film is put together well and the main actors are fantastic. However, it suffers because of its narrative and worldview: while the police claims it wants to help the neighbourhoods' inhabitants and to be their only hope these law-abiding citizens are never seen. Instead, the city is a wholly hostile body where everyone, man or woman, kid or adult, appears to be a pickpocketer, a smuggler or a dealer of some sort, and the only possible approach to policing is that of militarisation to 'break down' these people. Despite going for a realistic and gritty tone this is inevitably two-dimensional and only shares one side of the story. Might be a tough one to swallow depending on your ideas and experiences.
The film is put together well and the main actors are fantastic. However, it suffers because of its narrative and worldview: while the police claims it wants to help the neighbourhoods' inhabitants and to be their only hope these law-abiding citizens are never seen. Instead, the city is a wholly hostile body where everyone, man or woman, kid or adult, appears to be a pickpocketer, a smuggler or a dealer of some sort, and the only possible approach to policing is that of militarisation to 'break down' these people. Despite going for a realistic and gritty tone this is inevitably two-dimensional and only shares one side of the story. Might be a tough one to swallow depending on your ideas and experiences.