36th Precinct (2004)

This is an utterly brilliant movie. I highly recommend it. And that's coming from someone who usually *hates* cop movies. I get really easily bored of the typical over done American hero cop drama.

This a movie of substance, with symbolism, depth and a lot of action without becoming a movie that depends on action scenes to keep it going. And it doesn't end with a fluffy fairy tale ending the way most cop drama tripe does.

The actors are brilliant, which makes up for the times when there is slight confusion because there are so many characters to follow, its cinema that hasn't been dumbed down for an American audience.

Fmovies: The opening in 36 has got to be one of the more arresting (pun not intended) starters in a movie I've watched in some time, especially if you're a fan of Euro-electronica, where a catchy tune paces the multiple action happening on screen.

The French police is stumped by a gang of armed robbers whose fast and brutal methods leave no witnesses. Of course the politicians are angry and want immediate results in the capture of these criminals. The stakes are raised when a vacant seat in higher office is opened to the officer who manages to do so.

Leo Vrinks is a decorated cop with questionable methods. Toeing the line that separates cops from thugs, his team of officers and himself are tasked to bring these criminals to justice. His rival, Denis Klein, also a celebrated cop, wants the case for himself, but unceremoniously gets his team and himself relegated to a support role in the sting operation.

Naturally, unexpected things happen during the operation because of Denis' callous behaviour, and lives on both sides are lost. But no, the show doesn't end there when the thugs are captured, as the rivalry between the men spill over and provides more than sufficient fuel for the second half of the movie.

I guess it's the same at most offices, where promotion's at stake, the struggles and intense rivalry may get into the way of the greater good in getting the objective achieved. Methods are questioned, where morality and ethics are put into the spotlight - does the end really justify any means necessary? Like memorable HK police thriller Infernal Affairs, it is the powerful relationship between the main characters that this drama explores and excels in, with excellent acting from Daniel Auteuil and Gerard Depardieu as the bitter men with ambiguous methods and morales.

It's a relatively tight storyline, and you'll have to pay close attention to the subplots in order to be able to piece together how and why the ending was as presented. Highly recommended stuff.

36 Quai Des Orfevres is a gutsy police drama, filmed with flair, the dark side of both police and criminals realistically portrayed. For me the best aspect of the picture is bringing together again those two giants of the French screen, Depardieu and Auteuil, remembered for their roles in the wonderful Jean De Florette, which was a period piece, now they are in a rather frightening present day Paris. The fairly complex plot involves the rivalry between two leading policemen, both vying to gain promotion by bringing to justice a feared gang of psychopaths. In keeping with the dark feeling of the story Paris has never looked so gritty and bleak as seen here. Once again the French demonstrate their skill in the crime genre picture of which this is a fine example, thanks to these two brilliant actors, with the fine supporting cast, and earthy rugged direction. Based on real events, with muddy politics of the French Police Force, lies, betrayals, and violent shootouts, it will keep you guessing until it reaches its unexpected climax.

36th Precinct fmovies. A couple of days ago I saw the trailer of "36 Quai des Orfèvres" and I decided to buy the DVD. What a powerful movie it is, probably the best police story that I have recently seen. The dramatic and amoral story is a contemporary film-noir, with action, betrayal, shootings and hooks the attention from the beginning to the end. There is a great duel between two titans: Gérard Depardieu, in the role of a scum detective, and Daniel Auteuil, playing a detective with non-conventional procedures, and they both deserved nomination to the Oscar for such brilliant performances. The music score, with the song "Don't Bring me Down", is also wonderful. The grandiosity of "36 Quai des Orfèvres" recalled me 1995 "Heat", one of the best police stories of the 90's. I really do not understand why there are negative reviews for such great film. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "36"

Cop turned director is a new one on me but there's always a first time I guess. One thing's sure Marchal has a lot of balls in titling his film as he has and so inviting direct comparison with the only other film to employ as its title the address of the Police headquarters in Paris, Henri-Georges Clouzot's 1947 classic called simply Quai des orfevres without the number which is superfluous. Clouzot's movie is well over 50 years old and featured a more sedate form of detection - Louis Jouvet was not exactly Monsieur Hard Man and, like the man said, the times they are a changing. Marchal, who began taking acting lessons when he was still a cop (so that's how they perfect the good cop/bad cop routine) and went on to play in several TV crime series, has based his story on a real situation, the internicine rivalry in the eighties between the BRI and the BRB, both working out of the Quai. Co-scriptwriter Dominique Loiseau was a player and this is partly his story. The film is dominated by two lions in winter, Gerard Depardieu and Daniel Auteuil recalling Duke Wayne and Bob Mitchum in El Dorado, two ageing pros if not yet over the hill certainly at the summit, so these two craggy bears, polar bears if you will, polar being the French name for gangster/caper/crime films, light up the screen no question about it as the respective heads of the BRB (Brigade de Repression du Banditisme, that's Major Heists to you and me) and BRI (Brigade de Recherche et d'Intervention (we're Gangbusters, Man). There's a history between these two, we're never QUITE told the full story which is a masterstroke, but it involves Vrink's (Auteuil) wife, who may have once been Klein's (Depardieu) girl. To sweeten the pot Mancini (Andre Dussollier) head honcho announces his retirement leaving his job up for grabs; both are equally qualified but it's an open secret that the first guy to nail a particularly violent gang will become the new chief. Auteuil is our Dirty Harry kind of cop, often worse than the villains he's after but he DOES usually get them in the end, Depardieu is a tad choosier but not TOO good to live. To say more wouldn't really add much, I found myself a little intrigued by the long, black leather coats worn by both Brigades, resembling nothing so much as the outfit of choice of the Stasi in East Germany and I HOPE this is an oblique comment on the fact that (England at least) is slowly becoming a Police state. All in all an enjoyable romp and well worth 8 stars.

I had the privilege of seeing this film at the Lincoln Center (NY City) Rendezvous with French Cinema in March 2005 with the director, Olivier Marchal, in attendance.

The film stars Daniel Auteuil, Gerard Depardieu, and Valeria Golino. The two male leads play rivals for the position of Chief of Police in the same district of Paris. Depardieu's character is the heavy and the actor does a magnificent job. But so does Auteuil as the "good guy" and Golino as his wife. Marchal both wrote and directed this film, drawing on his former life as, in fact, a Paris cop and based the events in the film on some real occurrences from the 80s in Paris. There are drug dealers and corrupt cops, to be sure, but what gives this film tremendous power is the combination of the superb acting and a tough, smart script.

The current chief is in line to a promotion to commissioner and knows the personalities of the two rivals well--so well, in fact, that he engages in some devious manipulative actions to set them against each other. The resulting tension and conflict between these two is what gives the film its tremendous momentum. The plotting is perfect; this film does everything it's supposed to do, and a lot more, to grab the viewer by the throat and not let go until the end.

Upon conclusion of the film, the director was bombarded with questions. One of them was whether or not the film has American distribution. One would think that with two French mega-stars like Auteuil and Depardieu, no problem, right? Wrong. Marchal indicated that the film was picked up for distribution throughout the world EXCEPT in the US. It is my fervent hope that some American studio/distributor smartens up and then snaps up this film which is, without question, the absolute best policier in more than 20 years. The last great film in this genre from France was La Balance, directed, interestingly enough, by an American ex-pat, Bob Swaim. That was in 1982. Even Tavernier's L.627, 1992, is not a strong contender.

But 36 Quai des Orfevres is the real deal. The title refers to the street address of the district precinct station whose sign, in a nifty opening sequence, is ripped off by...well, you'll just have to see for yourself.

Very highly recommended. A great thriller--formidable! (French for terrific).