Adieu poulet

....were very trendy in France during the seventies ,in the wake of the events of May 68."Adieu Poulet" is a watchable ,if not particularly memorable effort in the field.

Lino Ventura and Patrick Dewaere -whose career had just begun and sadly would be short-lived- make a solid team .They have to fight against a far-right politician (of the P.R.U party (whose motto is "Moral and Order" ) played by Victor Lanoux.

The script was written by Francis Veber ("la Chèvre" "le Dîner de Cons" )and it was filmed on location in Rouen.Pierre Granier-Deferre made good "Cinema de Qualité".

In the French city of Rouen an election is marred by a fight between the supporters of two of the candidates. In the fracas a man is beaten to death and the killer then shoots a passing police officer! The officer has time to warn his colleagues that the killer is Proctor (Claude Brosset), a well-known thug whose brother is campaigning on behalf of law and order candidate Lardatte (Victor Lanoux)!

Commissaire Verjeat's (Lino Ventura) pursuit of Proctor is hampered by Lardatte for whom he has a personal dislike and misses no opportunity to humiliate. As a result he then finds himself with a very short time to capture Proctor, since he faces a promotion and a posting outside of Rouen, which will take him off the case. Verjeat is sure that this is courtesy of Lardatte and his police contacts! To cap it all, his sidekick, the eccentric Inspector Lefevre (Patrick Dewaere), implicates them both in a case of police corruption!

This French police drama focuses mainly on the politics of the police department and the often dubious relationship between police, criminals and politicians. What could be a routine docu-drama is enlivened by the contrasting performances of the no-nonsense Ventura and jester-like Dewaere. And there are also exciting moments like a siege of the city hall and an attempted arrest of Proctor, which is ruined when Lefevre's change falls out of his pocket!

Adieu Poulet (or The French Detective for the English title) is the typical french police movie from the seventies. I remember watching it when I was a kid and enjoyed it more then than I did now. In those days there were just not that much of good movies, Adieu Poulet was one of the good ones. Nowadays we have so much more choices. I still like it though, and it's always nice to watch a movie with Lino Ventura and Patrick Dewaere, as both are no longer with us, Lino dies of a heart attack and Patrick Dewaere took his own life seven years after this movie. Dewaere was a promising actor but with a troubled mind, still it came as a shock when he commited suicide. Adieu Poulet has a good cast, the story is easy to follow and entertaining, maybe it didn't age that well but still it's worth a watch.

I saw this French cop/buddy film when it originally ran in New York City for a limited time. I still remember the basics. Lino Ventura was sensational as usual, his sardonic, mistrusting self, and Dewaere was great as his partner. They made an enjoyable team, something I can't say for most cop/buddy films. Dewaere took his own life just a few years later, a very sad finale for an excellent actor. I'd love to see this film again but it has never surfaced on tape or disc and never airs on TV. But no worries, with satellite, I have an endless pile of worthless crap movies to surf through while good films like this languish in a vault, forgotten.

In 1970 Jean Gabin, ranked 18th in the list of 'Greatest Frenchmen', appeared in 'La Horse', a lamentable opus by Pierre Granier-Deferre which even Gabin's presence could not save. A considerable improvement is this later film from the same director which stars Lino Ventura, who was destined to assume Gabin's mantle and is ranked 23rd.

Ventura plays Commissaire Verjeat, an avenging angel in true Dirty Harry mode whilst the inspired casting of Patrick Dewaere as his hot-headed assistant provides another fascinating variant on the tried and trusted filmic formula of established versus rising star. As well as possessing that indefinable something extra, both actors complement each other perfectly whilst the other side of the coin is represented by the morally vacuous characters that are played by Victor Lanoux, Claude Rich and Julien Guiomar.

This is one of the films generally credited with helping to establish the sub-genre known as 'neo-polar' which is characterised by punchy dialogue, taut editing, high body count, maximum machismo and minimal femininity. The basic subject matter is redeemed however by the typically French emphasis on character rather than plot.

Although 'La Horse' is pretty awful one must acknowledge the excellence of this director's other collaboration with Gabin, 'Le Chat'. The brilliant Dewaere went from strength to strength before his tragically early demise. Ventura is, as always, great value in this but to suggest, as one critic has done, that this film represents 'arguably his finest hour' is frankly, absolute nonsense, as this would mean overlooking 'L 'Armée des Ombres', 'Cadaveri eccelenti' and 'Garde a Vue'.