Contre-enquête (2007)

Director:

Franck Mancuso

Writers:

Franck Mancuso (written by) and
Lawrence Block (short story)

Release Date:

7 March 2007 (Belgium)

Genre:

Crime

Plot:

A cop investigates whether the man convicted of murdering his daughter is really guilty.

Plot Keywords:

Child Murder | Abductor | Serial Child Killer | Investigation | Death Of Daughter

Cast

Jean Dujardin	...	Richard Malinowski
Laurent Lucas	...	Daniel Eckmann
Agnès Blanchot	...	Claire Malinowski
Aurélien Recoing	...	Josse
Jacques Frantz	...	Michel Arnalde
Jean-François Garreaud	...	Salinas
Jean-Pierre Cassel	...	Docteur Delmas
Alexandra Goncalvez	...	Emilie Malinowski
Claudine Vincent	...	Catherine Courrieux
Caroline Santini	...	Christiane Carlier
Marie Guillard	...	Mathilde Josse
Gabriel Mancuso	...	Gabriel Josse
Thierry Bosc	...	Albin Schneider
Jean-Pierre Germain	...	Jean-François Perrin
Benjamin Guyot	...	Lebars

Also Known As:

Counter Investigation (International: English title)

Runtime:

France:85 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Certification:

Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Portugal:M/16

Company:

Pathé Renn Productions

A nasty little film. One to miss.

This film is a useful corrective for those who think that French cinema is inescapably urbane, intelligent and stylish. Counter-investigation is a shallow, nasty, derivative, clunking little film. Though its authenticity is widely trailed, the film's basic premise - that a police officer whose daughter has been raped and killed would subsequently be allowed to investigate the same crime as a miscarriage of justice - defies disbelief. Character development is jettisoned in favour of a nuts and bolts plot which delivers few pleasures. Men suffer, you know, when their children die; but they can get through it by squaring their jaws and drinking liquor. Paedophiles, well, they're clever, cold, and calculating. And evil, pretty much. The police, they'd do a fine job, if it weren't for bureaucrats. And liberals, especially. The film's ultimate message - that the only justice is old testament justice in a neatly defined world of good and evil - is as absurd as it is juvenile. One to miss.