Le petit lieutenant (2005)

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

Director:

Xavier Beauvois

Writers:

Xavier Beauvois (scenario), Guillaume Bréaud (scenario)

Stars:

Nathalie Baye, Jalil Lespert, Roschdy Zem

4 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

When a fresh young police academy graduate from provincial Le Havre volunteers for the high pressure world of the Parisian homicide squad, his schoolteacher wife is reluctant to go with him. He moves into a rooming house that caters to single cops as he embraces his fellow officers as an extended family. He becomes close to an Arab officer and his boss, a very professional but lonely, middle-aged female detective who is also a recovering alcoholic. Routine police procedure gives way to an intensive search among the city's homeless for an undocumented Russian immigrant who may be responsible for a series of violent crimes.

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Plot Keywords:

homicide | russian immigrant | recovering alcoholic | police procedure | police academy | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

Cinema Guild [United States]

Country:

France

Language:

French Polish Russian

Release Date:

16 November 2005 (France)

Also Known As:

Le petit lieutenant

Filming Locations:

118 Rue des Pyrénées, Paris 20, Paris, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Why Not Productions, StudioCanal, France 2 Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Visa d'exploitation en France #111314

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Goofs

Reflected in window as Vaudieu and Solo exit the church.

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Quotes

Mireille, la logeuse: [after Antoine introduces himself as Lieutenant Derouère] These days, it's "Lieutenant" and "Captain." It's too much like the Army. Not that I don't like the Army, but "Monsieur l'Inspecteur"... It makes me think of Maigret...

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Connections

References The 400 Blows (1959)

User Reviews

Competent French crime story, but Nathalie Baye is not Helen Mirren

A rookie detective discovers a world of woe chasing seriously dangerous immigrant Russian thugs in Paris and Nice in this competent French crime drama. His boss is a veteran female police commander making a comeback of sorts after alcoholism had blown her off course for a while. For her performance here as Commandant Caroline "Caro" Vaudieu, Nathalie Baye won her second César Award as Best Actress of 2006 (her first was in 1983 for "La Balance"); at 58, she is a veteran of roles in more than 75 films, and her turn here is very good, if not entirely convincing.

By pure coincidence, later, on the same day I saw this film, I watched the last episode of "The Final Act" on PBS's Masterpiece Theater. This presentation, purportedly the last production in the "Prime Suspect" series, starring Helen Mirren as Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison of New Scotland Yard, offers useful comparisons with the French film. "Prime Suspect," of course, set the gold standard for contemporary narrative crime films and has had a splendid 14 year run from 1992 to this past weekend.

The parallels between the protagonists in "Petit Lieutenant" and "Final Act" are extraordinary. Both chief detectives are older women who have suffered through grief, loss and the ravages of the bottle. Both have obvious streaks of vulnerability. And both have something important left to prove: each needs to redeem herself in police work after previous humiliating periods of compromised functioning.

What stands out most in the comparisons is that Mirren's DCI Tennison is tougher than she is vulnerable. She sustains the respect of the men on the force because she can be as brassy and authoritarian as the best of them. And they respect this, never questioning her orders. Miss Baye's Commandant Vaudieu, on the other hand, has a more impassive, retiring personality. And thus her character is less believable than Mirren's, less likely to have risen in the ranks to the very top of a demanding and decidedly tough, not to mention misogynistic, profession. Several actors on Vaudieu's police team are splendid, including Jalil Lespert (the rookie cop, Antoine), Roschdy Zem (Solo) and Antoine Chappey (Louis). (In French, Russian & Polish) My grades: 8/10, B+ (Seen on 11/25/06)