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The French Detective

The French Detective

Crime · Drama · Thriller · 1975

When political thugs murder an opponent's volunteer and also kill a cop, chief inspector Verjeat believes the politician who hired them is as guilty as the murderous goon. Verjeat's pursuit of the councilman, Lardatte, gets him a warning from his superiors. When he embarrasses Lardatte while disarming a hostage (the dead volunteer's father), Verjeat is told he's being transferred within a week. He speeds up his hunt for the goon and, with Lefévre, one of his young detectives, he engineers a complicated scheme to buy more time before the transfer. How should Verjeat play out his values of honor and duty?

Movie details

The French Detective

1975 Crime · Drama · Thriller 1h 27m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.7 / 10

Community rating

When political thugs murder an opponent's volunteer and also kill a cop, chief inspector Verjeat believes the politician who hired them is as guilty as the murderous goon. Verjeat's pursuit of the councilman, Lardatte, gets him a warning from his superiors. When he embarrasses Lardatte while disarming a hostage (the dead volunteer's father), Verjeat is told he's being transferred within a week. He speeds up his hunt for the goon and, with Lefévre, one of his young detectives, he engineers a complicated scheme to buy more time before the transfer. How should Verjeat play out his values of honor and duty?

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The French Detective?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Pierre Granier-Deferre

Written by

Francis Veber

Lino Ventura

Lino Ventura

Commissioner Verjeat

Patrick Dewaere

Patrick Dewaere

Inspector Lefèvre

Victor Lanoux

Victor Lanoux

Pierre Lardatte

Julien Guiomar

Julien Guiomar

General controller Ledoux

Pierre Tornade

Pierre Tornade

Commissioner Pignol

Françoise Brion

Françoise Brion

Marthe Rigaux, boss of the brothel

Claude Rich

Claude Rich

Judge Delmesse

Court is in session

Put The French Detective on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Big-Idea Head

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.