La balance (1982)

Nicole is a Parisian streetwalker and Dede is her racketeer boyfriend, on the outs with his mob bosses because of a dispute over Nicole. When a police informant ("balance") is murdered, the... See full summary »

Director:

Bob Swaim

Writers:

Mathieu Fabiani (dialogue), Bob Swaim (dialogue),

Stars:

Nathalie Baye, Philippe Léotard, Richard Berry

3 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nathalie Baye	...	Nicole Danet
Philippe Léotard	...	Dédé Laffont
Richard Berry	...	Mathias Palouzi
Maurice Ronet	...	Roger Massina
Bernard Freyd	...	Le Capitaine
Christophe Malavoy	...	Tintin
Jean-Paul Comart	...	Le Belge (as Jean-Paul Connart)
Albert Dray	...	Carlini
Florent Pagny	...	Simoni
Tchéky Karyo	...	Petrovic (as Tcheky Karyo)
Raouf Ben Yaghlane	...	Djerbi
Galia Salimo	...	Sabrina, la prostituée (as Galia Dujardin)
Sam Karmann	...	Paulo Sanchez
Robert Atlan	...	Ayouche
Luc-Antoine Diquéro	...	Picard

Storyline

Nicole is a Parisian streetwalker and Dede is her racketeer boyfriend, on the outs with his mob bosses because of a dispute over Nicole. When a police informant ("balance") is murdered, the cops have to scramble for a replacement. Deciding on Dede, they begin to put a nasty squeeze on him and Nicole.

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Plot Keywords:

informant | police | tourist | fraud | violence | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

10 November 1982 (France)

Also Known As:

The Nark

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films Ariane, Films A2

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

References Crime Busters (1977)

User Reviews

Dirty, Gritty, Seamy Paris

What a nifty top of the B-film heap is this gritty Paris film, complete with love stories going bad, habits going strong, and cars going fast. Leotard has one of the great faces in the world and Nathalie Baye (in this outing new to me on release date) is just spectacularly vulnerable and perhaps a bit duplicitous. I would definitely make this part of my French film library. The film's co-director is from Evanston, Illinois! Bob Swaim has written films and directed them, mostly in France, and obviously learned his B-films on Saturdays with the rest of us and his France by living in it for a long time.