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LE
PETIT LIEUTENANT |
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Director: Xavier Beauvois
Screenplay: Cédric Anger, Xavier Beauvois,
Guillaume Bréaud, Jean-Eric Troubat
Cast:
Caroline Vaudieu: Nathalie Baye
Antoine : Jalil Lespert
Solo: Roschdy Zem
Louis: Antoine Chappey
Awards:
Label Europa Cinemas, Venice Film Festival (2005)
Best Actress (Nathalie Baye), César Awards (2006)
Running time: 110’
Production: France 2005
Rating: Not Rated
Gauge: 35mm, DVD (color)
Genre: Drama
Distributor: The Cinema Guild
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"Le
Petit Lieutenant embraces the spectrum of human drama
and comedy, and like a lot of French films it is keenly
involved with the everyday pulse of work. Xavier Beauvois,
who directed the film from a screenplay he wrote with
a handful of others, believes in the power of an observational
camera and in letting scenes play out quietly. Many of
the best moments in Le Petit Lieutenant involve
Antoine and the other detectives waiting for something
to happen or observing the coroner as he neatly carves
up a cadaver."
Manohla Dargis, The New York Times |
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Antoine, a
young, inexperienced detective, is selected for an elite Paris
plainclothes unit, leaving behind his wife, a schoolteacher
in the country. He is as gung-ho as they come, and eager to
learn everything he needs to know to be a good cop. Antoine
socializes with his new comrades. All seem to be heavy drinkers,
with the exception of the unit commander, Caroline, a former
alcoholic who has just returned from a long stint on desk
duty. Antoine looks up to his partners: Louis, a cynical man,
and Solo, a rigorous cop who faces racism due to his Moroccan
origin. Under the tough leadership of Caroline, the unit investigates
the death of a Polish immigrant and eventually learns that
the victim was last seen with a couple of Russians. When a
second victim is rescued from the waters of the canal a few
days later, the case takes on a new urgency. As Antoine tries
to fit in and learn the job, Caroline forms an almost maternal
bond with the young cop. Her attachment to him is shattered
when he is stabbed by one of the Russians. Antoine dies from
the incident and Caroline starts drinking again. While trying
to overcome Antoine’s death, the unit is quickly closing
in on his murderer.
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| PHOTO The Cinema
Guild |
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