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Credits
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Summary
When a police commissioner is murdered in Nice, Stanislas
Borowitz is assigned to track down and eliminate his killers. Very
soon, he up against the notorious gangster chief Théo Musard, and
his ruthless henchmen, which include senior members of the local police...
Review
Flic ou voyou was inspired from a novel by Michel
Grisolia, "L’Inspecteur de la mer" and is widely regarded as one
of Jean-Paul Belmondo’s best films. It was certainly one of his most
popular, attracting nearly four million cinema goers on its release in
1978, making it the most popular film in France that year after La Gendarme
et les extra-terrestres.The film is a typical late 1970s French crime thriller (or polar) which takes one of the recurring themes of the genre to its limit - the idea that the morality of the police can be as bad, if not worse, than the gangsters they are trying to round up. For the first half of the film, it is not even clear on what side of the law Borowitz (Belmondo) stands. Displaying a cool lack of humanity, casually resorting to violence at the least provocation, Borowitz appears to be the archetypal bad guy, and the fact that he is portrayed with Belmondo’s familiar charm and good humour renders the character even more disturbing. To complicate matters, the local police unit includes corrupt cops who are in the employ of a gangland boss. For most of the film, the audience does not know who are the good guys and who are the bad. The film’s title is aptly chosen. Although the film is well written, well acted and features some amazing stunts (a standard feature of Belmondo’s films), it is not faultless. The scenario is perhaps too familiar, the characters are by now conventional stereotypes, and the dry humour diffuses any real drama and tension. The film is entertaining in itself, and fans of Belmondo will adore it, but it lacks the originality, suspense and conviction of the truly great French crime thrillers. © James Travers 2006 |
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