Legge 627

The story is about policemen who work in a "commissariat" in Paris, France. They have to do their job everyday, running after little robbers or little drug dealers... The movie is very far from police stories we can see everyday in others movies, with great detectives, mafias... In fact, Bertrand Tavernier, with the help of an ancient policeman for the scenario, tries to catch policemen every day work, with their little problems with the hierarchy... I think this movie is the most "real" about police problems in France.

This film was a relentless eye opener to a seedy world which we do not want to believe is true but unfortunately as in the case of Paris it has only gotten worse.

What makes the film work? Well I think it works because of the broken up and choppy style between scenes. We do not move from scene 1 to 2 to 3 until eventually we come to a happy conclusion, instead we are moved here and there not ultimately leading us to a big bust or the worst bad guy, but simply the guys the police have to deal with on a daily basis. At least for me these small time crimes are reflective of real police work, we are not chasing some super intelligent sicko serial killer here, it's not CSI, Bones, or any of those silly shows.

In a perfect world the police would have the resources and power to stop illegal acts, but the police force like any large government institution becomes bogged down and convoluted under it's own weight. Imagine writing off to the stationery department to get a stapler if you were a cop, this would invariably happen. And at least Tavernier can show us the unglorious truth in it's ridiculous splendour.

There is also no black and white areas here. The police give junkies drugs for information. They use some tough methods with the criminals. They're methods are often made up on the spot and often things go horribly wrong.

I cannot recommend this film enough. I picked it up on the off chance and I was not at all disappointed.

Tavernier's examination of the Paris police's losing battle against the drug-dealers was reportedly inspired by the experience of his son's addiction. It is an angry, despairing film. Early on the central character says that "all drug-dealers are terrorists" and later the police chief says that "my son is 13. He will have already met his first dealer".

This is a documentary-style examination from the front-line, where the police are demoralised, under-resourced, corrupt and incompetent. The 'hero', Lulu, (an outstanding performance by Didier Bezace) is a maverick detective who gets transferred to desk duties when he is angered by his drunken boss demanding the return of the unit's van in the middle of a stakeout - so he can go home! After struggling with the police station's incompetent bureaucracy, Lulu is placed in a new anti-drugs unit, led by practical joker Dodo, concerned only with filling in forms and meeting the Ministry's statistical targets.

The whole film rings true, right down to the tedious form-filling using old typewriters and stolen carbon-paper. There is no real plot, as the unit stumbles from disaster to disaster, but rather a series of incidents punctuated by much eating and drinking. As if to contrast with the chaos of the police unit, the film is shot calmly and lucidly by Tavernier. By the end of the film you have become involved with the characters and want to know more about their bleak futures. A wonderful film, and as good a portrait of policing (at its worst) as you will see.

A gritty, realistic film on a cop with mission to get drug peddlers off the streets. Stylistically, it is a mix of Pialat's lovely film "Police" and Friedkin's "The French Connection"--only more realistic than both. Two actors--Didier Bezace (the lead mustached cop Lulu) and Lara Guirao (Lulu's friend Cecile --a beautiful hooker. Informant, with HIV, and drug addict who has a platonic relationship with Lulu) are wonderful characters. Tavernier dedicates the film to his son Nils. The film also underscores the lack of facilities for hardworking cops from the government. They file reports when the carbon paper for typed out reports are in short supply and they are short of vehicles. Yet, the cops keep going. The film is co-scripted by Tavernier and is an original screenplay of the director and. Michel Alexandre.

I remember vividly watching the film in 1996. It had a recommendation (as it says on the poster): 'Just as gritty as Reservoir Dogs'. We were disappointed. This wasn't Reservoir Dogs at all!

How wrong was I. Twenty years later there are a lot of documentary-like series about the lives of cops, for example Engranages. Well, L627 is EXACTLY as these TV series, but twenty years earlier. The cops from L627 and Engranages both work in the underbelly of Paris, where tourists won't come. We see the REAL lives of cops. Eating together, joking together, doing undercover operations together, shouting at each other, visiting squats. These are not the overly cool cops from other films, these are real people dealing with fears and tensions. The only thing from the series that is missing here, are judges and lawyers.

The thing that stands out, is how all kinds of stories are intertwined, just like in real life (and just like in Engranages), without leading towards a 'bad guy' to catch, as crime flicks usually do. It's about an hopeless fight against the drugs trade, without the proper resources. Suddenly you realize how much improvisation and intelligence this job needs. A job in which you even have to negotiate with a school director about using a classroom for a lookout, you can't have a decent car and have to pay your own camera when you want to film something.

No wonder it has been written by Tavernier together with a drug squad detective. With its two hours runtime L627 is almost as a mini TV series in itself. And just like Engranages and The Wire it boasts not only realism, but also terrific acting by a largely unknown cast. As in these series they have a wonderful chemistry together – for example when they are joking with each other. There's even one running joke… In the midst of all this is Lulu. He is only loosely the protagonist – as was Laure in Engranages (who has many similarities with the character of Marie in this film, by the way).

It isn't a pretty film, it has not really a cinematic feeling you are used to. But it is ahead of its time as many films nowadays are aiming at documentary-like realism. Therefore it demands a lot of attention and concentration in the beginning and it might be difficult to get into. It is certainly NOT the kind of film teenagers would like to see, I can say from my own experience.