MR 73 [DVD]

Although it was 36 Quai des Orfevres ( 36 Quai des Orfèvres ) [DVD] [2006] that got the critical acclaim and the international release, it's Olivier Marchal's unrelated follow-up MR 73 (it's a make of handgun) that's the more impressive of the two. Rather than the double act of Daniel Auteuil and Gerard Depardieu as cops at self-destructive loggerheads, this focuses on Auteuil's alcoholic cop, a broken man being buried alive surrounded by people leading lives of quiet desperation in the aftermath of the crimes and tragedy that are his daily bread.

Despite being released directly to video-on-demand in the US by the cash-strapped Weinstein Company under the actionably misleading title The Last Deadly Mission, this isn't a vigilante fantasy where good cops are let down by the system but a drama where bad cops fighting each other, secure in the knowledge that the worst will be covered up, is the real problem. In that context the unconvincing opening sequence where Auteuil's drunken cop hijacks a bus to take him home makes at least some sense: with the IAD more interested in covering up to protect the department's image, the system only punishes its own when they try to do the right thing. And it's trying to do the right thing, following a hunch and trying to get his life back on track, that has disastrous consequences here because he's simply no longer up to the job...

Based on a real case which doesn't exactly inspire confidence in the French police, this has a real insider's feel for the despair that comes with doing the job too long, making it a harder sell at the box-office despite the odd well-handled moments of violence but also a surprisingly engrossing drama. It helps that Marchal doesn't repeat some of the mistakes that let down parts of his debut: in particular Bruno Coulais' score doesn't drown the film like Erwann Kermorvant and Axelle Renoir's monothematic wall-to-wall scoring in 36 but is simply there when needed. It's not entirely successful - the rebirth metaphor at the end is a bit clumsy, though that can be taken as irony in a film relentlessly charting one man's destruction of himself - but at its best it has a gravity and a power that hasn't been seen in cop movies for years.

Optimum's UK DVD has a good 2.35:1 widescreen transfer with the trailer the only extra. Gaumont's French DVD and Bluray are much better served with extras - director's commentary, 9 deleted scenes, 55-minute documentary and trailer - but while the feature is subtitled in English, the extras on that edition are all unsubtitled French.

MR73 is a grim film involving lots of damaged people and some very nasty crimes, but at times the pursuit of the sex-killer is secondary(nice series of clues for those of us who follow these things though). As in 36 the cops are at war with themselves just as much as with the criminals, and procedure is honoured only in the breach and never the observance. But this we know from Spiral and La Balance etc etc, what will make or break the film for most of us I expect is the performance of Auteuil. The other cops have a 2D quality, All Bad or All Unlucky, but Auteuil's character has a back story. The script seemed to sag badly in the middle but ended up by being on target; in the end a film about displaced love rather than directed rage.

True heroines are borne not always from enflamed passion, but from a dire need to make things right. Excruciating memories haunt our heroine Justine Maxence in "MR 73" (2008, in French, aka "The Last Deadly Mission") to the point she can no longer tolerate the thought - that the human devil who raped, tortured, and then murdered her mother in front of her - while she was yet a child - then tortured and murdered her father - all done throughout the night - will be released from prison on good behavior. This nightmare now encompasses her every thought. We wait upon her words. Her suffering ignites all levels of compassion and empathy for us. Her character is linked by a common plot thread to her drunken knight (a police detective who investigated her parents' murder many years before). Her unlikely garde du corps will protect her, her family, and her baby. But he has to exit his own hell first; he has to pick up the pieces of his dissipated life, visit his paralyzed wife once more, and finish his own investigation. This is serious plot tension for those of us who desire a strength, precision, and depth in a movie thriller and tragedy.

We have the feminine soul in torment with the young pregnant woman Justine (brilliantly played by Olivia Bonamy). We have the masculine soul in torment with the self-destructing homicide detective Schneider (superbly played by renowned French actor Daniel Auteuil). In this graphic `investigating serial killings' crime thriller, replete with subtle nuances of plot progression, character depth (especially our two tormented souls), chilling acts of torture & murder - all encased in a tightly-woven storyline with the refined hand of a masterful writer/director (Olivier Marchal).

Once Justine's husband leaves her, once she supposedly sets in motion her own death by sending her photograph and a note to the `soon to be released killer of her parents', we assume the worse. The psychotic master criminal (Charles Subra, played with cold terror by Philippe Nahon) pretends to be 'reformed & redeemed by God' to get out of prison; we know he will find Justine to torture and kill her as a final act of evil (his deadly legacy). This dramatic irony, the work of another serial killer of women on the loose, the corruption of a high ranking police officer, the noble friendships between the survivors of overlapping tragedies - these storylines weave intricately together toward our final denouement in Act III, Scene 3.

The lines of fire have been drawn. The plot can only be extinguished by brutal acts of retribution, a mercy killing, and a 'freeing of Justine's very soul from her torment and fear'. Tension builds with clarity - even as thoroughly dissipated Detective Schneider pursues first one serial killer then the other one; all the while drawn into a web of police corruption, he displays his own noble obligation to rescue three women, Justine, his paralyzed wife, and his former lover/fellow police officer (Marie Angéli, played with sensitivity and depth by Catherine Marchal). One has to watch this excellent movie to appreciate it to the fullest.

Highly recommend this film to those who enjoy high-end thrillers with a solid storyline. The scenes of torture in its aftermath may offend the sensitivities of some persons.