Toutes peines confondues (1992) - film review

A young French police inspector, Chrisptophe Vade, is assigned to investigate some mysterious murders in a village in the Swiss Alps.  His superior is a man named Thurston, who uses some unorthodox methods to fight crime.  Vade’s investigations lead him to a wealthy industrialist, Gardella, a dangerous and powerful man…

The central premise of the film – that the man investigating a serious crime should end up distrusting his superior as much as the villains – is an interesting one.  But, despite a fairly good performance from Patrick Bruel, the idea just doesn’t seem to ring true.  From the first scene, Thurston immediately strikes us as a weirdo, and therefore probably not to be trusted.  Meanwhile, the villains remain villains, and pretty nasty ones at that, throughout.  Where is the moral dilemma that Inspector Vade faces?  Why doesn’t he just duck out of the case after the first five minutes?  What keeps him involved?  The film is, however, very competently photographed.

© James Travers 2000

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