Garde à vue (1981)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Claude Miller

Writers:

John Wainwright (novel)
Claude Miller (writer) ...

Release Date:

23 September 1981 (France)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

A police inspector, suspecting an attorney of two child sex murders, has him held for a questioning session that goes on for hours.

Plot Keywords:

New Year's Eve | Questioning | Dialogue Driven | Suicide | Police Brutality

Awards:

6 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Lino Ventura	...	Inspector Antoine Gallien
Michel Serrault	...	Jerome, Charles, Emile Martinaud
Romy Schneider	...	Chantal Martinaud
Guy Marchand	...	Inspector Marcel Belmont
Didier Agostini	...	Young policeman
Patrick Depeyrrat	...	Policeman
Pierre Maguelon	...	Adami
Annie Miller	...	La mère de Camille
Serge Malik	...	Le mécanicien
Jean-Claude Penchenat	...	Divisional Commissioner
Yves Pignot	...	Policeman
Mathieu Schiffman	...	Le fils Berthier
Michel Such	...	Jean-Marie Jabelain
Elsa Lunghini	...	Camille
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mohammed Bekireche	...	Arab

Also Known As:

The Inquisitor
Under Suspicion

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Colour:

Colour (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:18

Filming Locations:

Hôtel Royal Monceau - 35 avenue Hoche, Paris 8, Paris, France

Company:

Les Films Ariane

Trivia:

Entirely shot in studio (with the exception of one sequence in a hotel) and in chronological order.

Movie Connections:

Version of Under Suspicion (2000)

very fine police procedure film

Miller is not well known in North America. He made a superb first feature called La meilleure facon de marcher, about two young instructors at a summer camp. One terrorizes the other with insults and physical abuse designed to provoke a homosexual response. The typical Miller film has a central figure under a lot of pressure, either self-imposed or coming from others. Here we have a rich lawyer (Serrault, so wonderful in La cage aux folles) accused of raping and killing two young girls. He is being interrogated on New Year's eve in a sterile office by two detectives who would rather be out celebrating.

As the night wears on, Serrault becomes more and more frustrated and anguished since the questioning turns as much on his married life as on his alibis for the two girls. His marriage is a sham; his wife married him for his money and they haven't made love in ten years. Romy Schneider made a great cameo as the wife resigned to her wretched, loveless but upwardly-mobile arrangement. She died soon after the film was released.

The main characters are all superbly played. Guy Marchand is the dumber of the two cops; he's sweating under the lights and hates the accused man even more for his veiled insults. Lino Ventura plays Gallien with a fine combination of tact and anger. He can't forget the photos of the victims.

I'll just mention Bruno Nuytten's fine camera work; the night scenes in a steady rain are well done. This is one of the finest crime films from France and should be widely seen.