En liberté!

'En liberte!', The 2018 French comedy directed by Pierre Salvadori, opens with a scene that seems to be taken from an action movie with super-cops made in the 60s. The scene, in which a brave policeman neutralizes a large crowd of gangsters, a scene that is repeated with variations several times throughout the film, is actually the summary of the bed-time story told by the film's heroine, police lieutenant Yvonne Santi (Adele Haenel) to her son falls to have him fall asleep, recounting the heroism of her husband, also a police officer, who fell on the line of duty two years before. It so happens that Yvonne discovers the true face of her ex-husband: not a hero, but a corrupt policeman, who also destroyed the life of a young man named Antoine (Pio Marmai), whom he had innocently imprisoned. Antoine, wrongfully convicted, is on the verge of release. Policewoman Yvonne will try to make up for some of her husband's injustice. Is redemption possible?

'En liberte!', the French title of the film, can have several meanings in French. It literally means 'released', as Antoine finds himself, awaited by his wife Agnes (Audrey Tautou), free to resume his life from the point where it was interrupted by injustice. However, the second meaning would have been 'unleashed', also fit, because in prison Antoine had both accumulated anger for the years of his youth that he had been deprived of and had also learned violent methods to express his frustrations. Yvonne, who experiences her own frustrations and faces loneliness by refusing the advances of another fellow police officer, will try to fix what her missing husband had destroyed - Antoine's life. It is not an easy task, and the risk that the young man who went through the 'prison school' will be the one to draw the young police woman on the slope of mental imbalance and crime is permanently present.

The cast is blessed by the presence of Audrey Tautou in a supporting role, which she plays very well. What I found fascinating is the fact that the excellent actress Adele Haenel takes over exactly the type of heroine played by Tautou in some of the previous films - physical beauty doubled and amplified by an inner radiance and goodness, intelligence and emotional maturity that guides her in doing good to those around, sometimes in spite of themselves, risking and sacrificing a lot for others around. I had noticed first Adele Haenel in the film 'La fille inconue' by the Dardenne brothers, then I admired her in Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Her role in this film confirms to me that she is one of the most talented and full of personality actresses of her generation. The story, quite improbable in fact, manages to pass the screen due to her charm and the one of her partner Pio Marmai, and to the cinematic approach that is a combination of romantic movie and comedy with cops in the good French tradition of the gendarme from Saint Tropez movies, updated to today's realities of the cities on the French Riviera. 'En liberte!' it's a more than enjoyable movie and those looking for quality entertainment in the summer months can find it here.

The basic premise of the story and developments are on this IMDb page summary for this movie. It features good actors who play their roles very well. Although it is made by completely different filmmakers, in tone and quirkiness it often reminded me of "Amelie", and it even has Audrey Tautou playing one of the characters.

Not all of it worked for me but enough of it did that I overall enjoyed this movie, at home on DVD from my public library. I know a little French and reading English subtitles was not too much of a bother.

Good change of pace from American movies I mostly watch.

I wasn't expecting to laugh as much as I did. Adèle Haenel should do comedy more often. I really enjoyed her spontaneity and one-liners.

The movie is being advertised in France as being "the best comedy of the year 2018" or "you will die laughing". In fact, I only smiled once. The rest of the people in the theater the same... Otherwise the movie is absolutely boring with an awful screenplay and with some scenes that could easily candidate to the worst moments in French Cinematography.

Yvonne (Adèle Haenel), a young police inspector, discovers that her husband, Captain Santi (Vincent Elbaz), was not the brave and honest police officer she believed him to be, but a complete fraud. Determined to make amends for the mistakes he made, she crosses paths with Antoine (Pio Marmaï), who was unjustly arrested by Santi and sentenced to eight years. This unexpected and crazy encounter will change both of their lives forever...

Very enjoyable, another excellent French production, that comedy in homeopathic doses but deliciously administered with a different sense of humor, the characters are super captivating, even the supporting characters, like the trio of security guards and the serial killer dismembering the police station, among others... Light on the drama, fun and well orchestrated in the police story, fake romance... And in the end, finally free, both protagonists, in their own way, and without further explanation, free... Lovely...