The Inquisitor (1982)

Aware that I was getting close to giving my 2000th IMDb rating,I started planning on what the rated title would be.At first going for Henri-Georges Clouzot's La Vérité/The Truth,I was disappointed to find the official French DVD to have "broken English" Subtitles. When taking part recently in a poll for the best films of 1981, Garde a vue was at the very top of my "most wanted" list for the year. Telling a DVD seller this round the time I got the Clouzot,I was thrilled to hear that they had recently tracked down Garde,which has led to it getting my 2000th rating.The plot:Missing out on New Years Eve celebrations, Inspector Antoine Gallien and Inspector Marcel Belmont sit in an interrogation room interviewing attorney Emile Martinaud. With Martinaud (who was on his own each time) having reported to the police two young girls he found raped and murdered, Gallien and Belmont put Martinaud under as being the likely killer. Interviewing him for hours, Belmont and Gallien are unable to any substantial evidence from Martinaud,which leads to Gallien interviewing Martinaud's wife Chantal,and learning of the hidden corridors in Martinaud's life.View on the film:Making her penultimate film,Romy Schneider gives a haunting performance as Chantal which reflects the deep troubles Schneider was having in her life,from the interview Chantal has with Gallien being given a washed out mood by Schneider, in expressing the breakdown of the Martinaud's marriage. Left to do the typing in the interrogation, Guy Marchand gives a cracking performance as Belmont, whose frustrations Marchand makes crackle on screen,as Belmont sees the "murderer" in front of him,but unable to lay a finger on him.Stamping round the interrogation room, Lino Ventura gives a magnificent performance as Gallien,who is given a calculating tact by Ventura,which shatters from Gallien's passion to bring justice to the murdered girls. Caught in the hard line the cops take, Michel Serrault digs Martinaud's heels in with an upper-crust self belief,which crumbles as the interrogation unveil the Neo-Noir loss at wits end behind Martinaud businessman façade.Joined by his wife Annie playing a major role in the flashback scenes, co-writer/(with Jean Herman and Michel Audiard) director Claude Miller & cinematographer Bruno Nuytten sit in on the interrogation with a stylish,pristine appearance wiping any brightness away for dour,white and grey Noir colours. Keeping all the guys in one room, Miller fires up the claustrophobic anxiety with tightly coiled whip-pans across the confined location,which sweep into hard-nosed close-ups lingering on each vicious exchange.Taking John Wainwright's book into the station,the writers superbly intercut flashbacks to the murder scenes and Martinaud's private life to emphasise the importance of what Gallien and Belmont attempt to uncover. Taking place against a "stage" setting, the writers keep the Neo- Noir atmosphere fresh with incredibly subtle changes in the dialogue,from everyone trying to get under the skin of each other,to Gallien, Martinaud and Belmont spitting out their frustrations,of all being under suspicion.

Police, investigations, murder, suspicion: we are all so acquainted with them in movies galore. Most of the films nowadays deal with crime which is believed to involve viewers, to provide them with a thrilling atmosphere. However, most of thrill lovers will rather concentrate on latest movies of that sort forgetting about older ones. Yet, it occurs that these people may easily be misled. A film entirely based on suspicion may be very interesting now despite being more than 20 years old...it is GARDE A VUE, a unique movie by Claude Miller.Is there much of the action? Not really since the events presented in the movie take place in a considerably short time. But the way they are executed is the movie's great plus. Jerome Charles Martinaud (Michel Serrault) is being investigated by Inspector Gallien (Lino Ventura) and Insector Belmont (Guy Marchand). It's a New Year's Eve, a rainy evening and not very accurate for such a meeting. Yet, after the rape and murder of two children, at the dawn of the old year, the door of suspicion must be open at last. In other words, (more quoted from the movie), it must be revealed who an evil wolf really is. To achieve this, one needs lots of effort and also lots of emotions from both parties...Some people criticize the script for being too wordy. Yet, I would ask them: what should an investigation be like if not many questions and, practically, much talk. This wordiness touches the very roots of the genre. In no way is this boring but throughout the entire film, it makes you, as a viewer, as an observer, involved. Moreover, the film contains well made flashbacks as the stories are being told. Not too much and not too little of them - just enough to make the whole story clearer and more interesting. The most memorable flashbacks, for me, are when Chantal (Romy Schneider), Martinaud's wife, talks about one lovely Christmas... But these flashbacks also contain the views of the places, including the infamous beach. It all wonderfully helped me keep the right pace. And since I saw GARDE A VUE, I always mention this film as one of the "defenders" of French cinema against accusations of mess and chaos. But those already mentioned aspects may not necessarily appeal to many viewers since they might not like such movies and still won't find the content and its execution satisfactory. Yet, GARDE A VUE is worth seeing also for such people. Why? For the sake of performances. But here don't expect me to praise foremost Romy Schneider. GARDE A VUE is not Romy Schneider vehicle. She does a terrific job as a mother who is deeply in despair for a lost child. She credibly portrays a person who is calm, concrete, who does not refuse an offered cup of tea but who does not want to play with words. Her part which includes a profound talk of life and duty is brilliant, more credible than the overly melancholic role of Elsa in LA PASSANTE DE SANS SOUCI. It is still acted. However, Romy Schneider does not have much time on screen. Practically, she appears for the first time after 45 minutes from the credits; she, as a wife and a different viewpoint, comes symbolically with the New Year, at midnight. Her role is a purely supporting one. Who really rocks is Lino Ventura. He IS the middle aged Inspector Antoine Gallien who wants to find out the truth, who is aware that his questions are "missiles" towards the other interlocutor but does not hesitate. He is an inspector who, having been married three times, is perfectly acknowledged of women's psyche. He is the one who does not regard his job as a game to play but a real service. Finally, he is a person who does not find it abnormal to sit there on New Year's Eve. Michel Serrault also does a fine job expressing fear, particularly in the final scenes of the movie. But thumbs up for Mr Ventura. Brilliant!As far as memorable moments are concerned, this is not the sort of film in which this aspect is easily analyzed. The entire film is memorable, has to be seen more than once and has to be felt with its atmosphere and, which I have not mentioned before, gorgeous music. For me, the talk of Chantal and Inspector Gallien is the most brilliant flawless moment. You are there with the two characters, you experience their states of mind if you go deeper into what you see.GARDE A VUE is a very interesting film, a must see for thrill lovers and connoisseurs of artistic performances. New Year has turned and...is it now easier to open the door? You'll find out when you decide to see the memorably directed movie by Claude Miller. 8/10

What keeps us going - or at least what I feel the writer wanted us to keep us glued at an early point is our desire to know whether Martinaud has done the dirty deed. Without spoiling so much, of course there is a red herring and a twist. But then we discover that this is the story of Martinaud's imperfections and his difficulty in coping. When there is the revelation - we begin to sympathize and pity him because as the story progresses we are made to think he is the sick, perverted pedophiliac that we're predisposed to have in mind. One of those things he has to cope with is the distant gap he and his wife have even though they live on the same roof. These problems of course are given their denouement in the film's shocking finale.This movie demands your patience and it has certainly tried those of restless teenagers sitting at the rear. They were heckling obviously because they aren't partial to "central location" films. Although there is a bit of travelling, when we get to the woods and the beach. And we realize that Gallien isn't as clever as we are made to think he is.The Inquisitor is 5/5

Garde à Vue has to be seen a number of times in order to understand the sub-plots it contains. If you're not used to french wordy films, based upon conversation and battle of wits rather than on action, don't even try to watch it. You'll only obtain boredom to death, and reassured opinion that french movies are not for you.Garde à Vue is a wordy film, essentially based upon dialogs (written by Audiard by the way)and it cruelly cuts the veil of appearances.Why does Maître Martineau (Serrault) prefer to be unduly accused of being a child murderer rather than telling the truth ? Because at the time of the murder he was with a 18 years old girl with whom he has a 8-years sexual relation. His wife knows it, she's jealous of it and he prefers to be executed (in 1980 in France, there was still death penalty)rather than unveiling the sole "pure and innocent" aspect of his pitiful life.