Circulez y’a rien à voir (1983) - film review

Inspector Leroux and his colleague Pelissier are investigating a petty theft when they encounter the wealthy and elegant art dealer, Helene Duvernet.  Instantly attracted to the young woman, Leroux goes to increasingly desperate lengths to meet her.  Although she finds this harassment mildly entertaining at first, Miss Duvernet soon becomes exasperated with Leroux, who seems to cling to her like a leech.   But, then again, she has good reason not to be mixed up with the police...

The plot may be ludicrous and the comic situations do have a tendency to be a little forced and repetitive.  But, for all that, this is an entertaining, and often very funny, light comedy – from a director who is now highly regarded, and not just in his native France.

In a film that takes the concept of police harassment to its absolute zenith, Michel Blanc is the diminutive, unkempt and seemingly irrational police inspector, whilst Jane Birkin is the cool and elegant art dealer, the object of Leroux’s mad obsession.  It is a chalk and cheese pairing which has its comic moments but which, overall, never seems to gel properly.

Why would a gorgeous and wealthy young woman put up with the unwelcome attentions of a balding, middle-aged dwarf?  And just what is it that attracts the policeman to the wealthy lady who is several hundred rungs above him in the social ladder?  Is it love or is it blind intuition that the art dealer is a master criminal?  The film never really explains the behaviour of its main characters, preferring to focus on the comedy which the improbable situation inspires.  The overall effect is therefore a little unconvincing and, as a consequence, mildly disappointing.

However, the film has a dynamism and genuine charm that lifts it way above the mediocre.  In particular, the segment where Leroux and Duvenet stuggle – against all the odds – to dispose of a human body is comic genius...

© James Travers 2001

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