Le petit lieutenant (2005)

Director:

Xavier Beauvois

Writers:

Cédric Anger (writer)
Xavier Beauvois (writer)

Release Date:

16 November 2005 (France)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot:

A rookie policeman from provincial Le Havre volunteers for the high pressure Parisian homicide bureau and is assigned to a middle-aged woman detective.

Plot Keywords:

Homicide | Le Havre | Police Academy | Police Procedure | Russian Immigrant

Awards:

3 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Nathalie Baye	...	Commandant Caroline "Caro" Vaudieu
Jalil Lespert	...	Antoine Derouère
Roschdy Zem	...	Solo
Antoine Chappey	...	Louis Mallet
Jacques Perrin	...	Le juge Serge Clermont
Bruce Myers	...	L'Anglais
Patrick Chauvel	...	Le lieutenant Patrick Belval
Jean Lespert	...	M. Derouère, le père d'Antoine
Annick Le Goff	...	Mme Derouère, la mère d'Antoine
Bérangère Allaux	...	Julie Derouère, la femme d'Antoine
Mireille Franchino	...	Mireille, la logeuse
Yaniss Lespert	...	Alex Derouère, le frère d'Antoine (as Yanis Lespert)
Xavier Beauvois	...	Nicolas Morbé
Philippe Lecompt	...	Armurier
Pierre Aussedat	...	Commissaire

Also Known As:

The Young Lieutenant (International: English title)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

France

Language:

Polish | Russian | French

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Sweden:11 | USA:Unrated | France:U | Singapore:NC-16 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Aéroport Nice-Côte d'Azur, Alpes-Maritimes, France

Company:

Why Not Productions

Trivia:

Visa d'exploitation en France #111314

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: Reflected in window as Vaudieu and Solo exit the church.

Quotes:

Young man: [He approaches Commandant Vaudieu and Antoine, who are sharing a marijuana cigarette] Excuse me, can I have a drag?
[Antoine pauses and looks at Vandieu, who assents. He gives the joint to the stranger]
Young man: Thanks.
[He takes a long drag]
Young man: Watch out.
[Returning the joint]
Young man: This place is crawling with cops.
[He leaves]
Young man: Au revoir.

Movie Connections:

References Un flic (1972)

Well done, though not really great

A young lieutenant, fresh from school, starts in Paris in a homicide squad. He grew up in Le Havre, where his wife still teaches at school. He misses her and tries to get her to move to Paris too. His boss is a very good police inspector, who just returns to the police after having dropped for personal reasons. She had lost her only son and became an alcoholic. Now she is clean and takes over a new group. Soon they have to investigate the murder of a homeless person. The search for the killer brings big dangers for most of the group, but specially for the lieutenant and his boss.

The film shows some everyday routine of police work and how the officers enjoy themselves after their day is done. There are no big things going on, even the murder case is not very special. It is the personal situation of the two main characters that involves the interest of the audience. Well done, though not really great. 7 out of 10.