Poulet au vinaigre

In a French town, Dr Philippe Morasseau (Jean Topart), the lawyer Mr Hubert Lavoisier (Michel Bouquet) and the butcher Gérard Filiol (Jean-Claude Bouillaud) have founded the real estate business FILAMO using the money of Phillipe's wife, the wealthy Delphine Morasseau (Josephine Chaplin). They want to buy the derelict house where Mrs. Cuno (Stéphane Audran) and her son Louis Cuno (Lucas Belvaux) live in a profitable business for them, but the Cuno family do not accept the deal. Mrs. Cuno is a disabled woman that uses wheelchair, helped by Louis, who is the local postman. He spends part of his working hours helping his mother, and his co-worker Henriette (Pauline Lafont), who has a crush on him, covers his absences. When Dr. Morasseau forces Louis to stop his car and breaks the expensive bottle of wine he has bought, he seeks revenge. During the night, he slashes two tires of Dr. Morasseau; then, he puts caramel in the tank of Filiol's car. On the next morning, Filiol is overtaking a truck on the road and the motor fails. He crashes and dies on the road. Meanwhile, Lavoisier's mistress Anna Foscarie (Caroline Cellier) tries unsuccessfully to contact Delphine, who Dr. Morasseau tells that she is in Switzerland, and out of the blue, Anna vanishes. Soon Inspector Jean Lavardin (Jean Poiret) arrives in the town to investigate the death of Filiol and he learns that Delphine had a car accident and died completely charred. He suspects of the accident and now he is investigating two murders. The efficient inspector uses unconventional methods to find the truth about the deaths and the disappearance of Anna.

"Poulet au vinaigre", a.k.a. "Cop au Vin" (1985), is a police story by Claude Chabrol with one abusive, but efficient police inspector. The plot has several details and characters, and the screenplay is excellent, disclosing the storyline in a simple way, but keeping the mystery until the end. All the characters are imperfects: Mrs. Cuno is manipulative; Louis is dishonest; the trio of friends are corrupt; Anna is unfaithful to her financially supportive lover. Inspector Jean Lavardinv is an abusive police officer who does not respect rights or laws, but effective in the results. Presently he would have many troubles with his unconventional methods, but in 1985, the world was different and better. The solution of the case is brilliantly resolved in the end. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Um Tira Amargo" ("A Bitter Cop")