Counter Investigation - Kein Mord bleibt ungesühnt

Released in 2007, the French film is one of the best dramas and investigative thrillers of all time.

Jean Dujardin's character Richard will be seen on the screen in this film which tells the story with emphasis on the emotions of the characters as well as the quests. Laurent Lucas, who came as Daniel to remind us of many important villains, also performed well.

Emily, the ten-year-old daughter of Police Inspector Richard Malinowski, is brutally murdered. Since the victim was the daughter of a police officer, his colleagues attached great importance to finding the culprit immediately.

Defendant Daniel Ekman is in prison. But then he keeps writing letters to Richard saying that he was not the one who did that cruel thing.

The film tells the story of Richard's parallel investigation to find out if Daniel is the real culprit and to find out who caused his Emily's death.

Many of the films that have stories about the murders of loved ones and their endings end in the same direction as revenge. The success of such films often depends on how much revenge the audience can contain.

I found this film to be a good fit. An unexpected climax enjoyed well.

Jean Dujardin plays "Richard Malinowski", a model cop and family man in this film loaded with famous actors like J. P. Cassel, Aurélien Recoing and J. F. Garreaud. Beautiful Caroline Santini plays the unknowing victim of a psychopath so well you can't forget her case easily. Visually beautiful, great music, a rather classic/ conventional plot in the beginning, but the movie doesn't deliver if you know how to wait.

Claire M., the long-suffering wife of our main character, could've been better developed, following instead the well trodden lines of the "wife that doesn't understand the hero, leaves him at the worst moment, is cold and always complaining". I'd expect a better leading female character, at least in a film made in 2007.

What I most liked is the cop culture of fellowship, even when they know what their "brothers in arms" are up to. They protect each other. For good or for bad :).

Enjoy!

PS: To the fellow IMDb reviewer "kosmasp": Yes, Dujardin is very well known in France, he's always at Cannes, having just won the best actor prize there with the beautiful film "L'Artiste" with Bérénice Bejo, for instance.

First "writers_reign" the script is not an adaptation of a novel written by Robert Bloch but by Lawrence Block, also author of "Eight million ways to die" adapted by Hal Ashby. Having said this the movie itself offers a good and unusual performance by Jean Dujardin and a new great one by Laurent Lucas. Franck Mancuso being an ex cop is certainly in a better place that anyone to know about police procedures and does a good job for his first directorial task. It's also great to see a cameo by the late Jean-Pierre Cassel. So, in the end it's a tight (the movie is approx 75mn long) crime drama that don't relies on car chases or gunfights. French thrillers still can be made these days.

Through persistent correspondence over the course of three years and new elements in his possession, police captain Malinowski starts to doubt the man convicted for his 10 year old daughter's rape and murder is actually guilty and starts a counter-investigation on his own.

Written and directed by ex-cop Franck Mancuso (also co-writer of the great 36 Quai Des Orfèvres), Contre-Enquête is a very good, well-made film, certainly the best French crime film of 2007 out of those I've seen so far (which include Le Deuxième Soufflé, Chrysalis and ex-top spot holder Pars Vite Et Reviens Tard). So-hot-right-now Jean Dujardin is very good in his first truly serious role I've seen, and the rest of the cast do a good job as well, especially Laurent Lucas as Daniel Eckmann, the convict. The script, based on a short story by Lawrence Block (screenwriter of Wong Kar-Wai's English-language effort My Blueberry Nights) is greatly written and keeps the suspense going and the viewer wondering until the very end. Good crime thriller, check it out if you have the chance.

Quoting from another reviewer : "This is one of those cases that if it had a different production, it would have make it BIG TIME. And that's a real shame because this little piece of french tape is a lesson of good film-making and the fact that it didn't get much of recognition and visibility left it forgotten".

It's a small budget production, so don't expect expensive action scenes and overall, anything similar. CI is a good crime/thriller relying upon its actors and the story. It's not a movie that will make you hold your breath, but it's very interesting all the way until the ending, it's clever and the ending was strong. It's "tight", not a second wasted, it has nothing to do with a fun flick, it will make you sad, so if you're looking for pure entertainment or a violent and dumb revenge film, watch something else.

This is "cerebral", meticulously written and it's rewarding. Not because the ending is satisfying, it's neither satisfying or unsatisfying. But anyone who wants to watch a good crime/thriller, CI is a good choice.