Le Cousin (1997) - film review

His family life in disarray, his career threatened when he is implicated in a drugs dealing racket, a police detective kills himself.   A colleague, Gérard, decides to ally himself with his dead partner’s informer, Nounours, determined to make a substantial hit on the illicit drugs trade in Paris.  As he grows to rely more on Nounours than on his police colleagues to achieve his aim, Gérard is drawn further and further from the rule of law…

Director Alain Corneau is the man responsible for some of the most highly rated crime-thrillers in French cinema, including Police Python 357 (1976) and Le Choix des armes (1981).  He moved away from the genre to work on other kinds of film from the mid-1980s – most notably the acclaimed historical drama Tous les matins du monde (1991) – only to return to the policier comparatively late in his career.

Le Cousin is quite a contrast to Corneau’s early thrillers – far less stylish, far more realistic, and with much greater emphasis on characterisation over plot.  Although less taut and compelling than the director’s other films, Le Cousin has a lot to commend it, in particular the way it cleverly explores the relationship between a cop and his informer (or "cousin").

It is not unusual in French crime films to see the law-breaker elevated to a higher moral position than the supposed law-enforcer, but it is a surprise to have the domestic lives of the two characters compared.  In Le Cousin, the informer’s home life is a haven of tranquillity compared with that of the career detective, giving the former even greater moral fibre that the latter, who is too willing to sacrifice his ideals – and his family – to achieve a morally laudible end.  Ironically, it is the State itself which prevents the well-intentioned police “hero” from scoring a victory over Evil, and his efforts – and losses – have been for nothing.  It’s a familiar film noir set up, but embellished with a touch of late 1990s cynicism.

Although from its look and feel there’s not much to distinguish the film from the hundreds of crime thrillers made since the 1980s, Le Cousin is a better than average example of the genre (although some of the on-screen violence appears sickeningly gratuitous).  The acting is particularly noteworthy, with some impressive contributions from Patrick Timsit and Alain Chabat (both are better known for playing comedy).  The intensity and conviction which these two actors bring to their characters are what most makes this such an engaging and thought-provoking piece of drama.

© James Travers 2005

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