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36 Quai des Orfèvres
2004 Crime / Thriller / Drama
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Credits
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Director: Olivier Marchal
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Script: Dominique Loiseau, Frank Mancuso, Olivier Marchal, Julien Rappeneau
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Photo: Denis Rouden
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Music: Erwann Kermorvant, Axelle Renoir
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Cast: Daniel Auteuil (Léo Vrinks),
Gérard Depardieu (Denis Klein),
André Dussollier (Robert Mancini),
Roschdy Zem (Hugo Silien),
Valeria Golino (Camille Vrinks),
Daniel Duval (Eddy Valence),
Francis Renaud (Titi Brasseur)
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Country: France
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Language: French
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Runtime: 110 min
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Summary
For several months, a gang of ruthless crooks have been getting away with a series of
daring and increasingly violent robberies in Paris. Police chief Robert Mancini
summons two of his best men, Léo Vrinks and Denis Klein, and offers them an unusual
challenge. Whichever of them manages to bring the gang to justice will succeed him
upon his retirement. Vrinks and Klein are both eager to get the job, and what follows
will be a fight to the death...
Review
Director Olivier Marchal clearly likes his crime thrillers fast, hard-boiled and dialogue
sparse. After his ultra-violent first film,
Gangsters (2002), 36
Quai des Orfèvres is an equally brutal portrayal of life on the mean streets
of Paris, a relentless orgy of pacey action stunts and spectacles of mindless violence
of the kind that are now de rigueur in the thriller
genre. Whilst the film is at times visually stunning, it’s a clear case of style
over substance. The threadbare plot (which is absolutely riddled with clichés)
doesn’t stand up to even a passing scrutiny and the characters are about as absurd and
implausible as you can imagine (even if the acting generally isn’t too bad).
This is an incoherent showy schoolboy fantasy à la Luc Besson, not a serious
crime drama. Even the presence of such world class actors as Daniel Auteuil and
Gérard Depardieu cannot disguise the fact (although, on the strength of their contributions
to this film, both are looking distinctly well past their best.) Anyone expecting
something in the tradition of the classic French thriller can only be disappointed by
this film, which is not much more than a slavish imitation of the latest species of tough
and ever-more vacuous American cop movie.
© James Travers 2007
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