Parole de flic (1985)
Directed by José Pinheiro

Film Review

By the mid-1980s the classic French policier was looking decidedly dépassé, and so were the two actors who were most closely associated with the genre - Jean-Paul Belmondo and Alain Delon.  The latter's attempts to broaden his repertoire in more serious fare - Un amour de Swann (1984) and Notre histoire (1984) - had not been a great success, and so it was as much an act of desperation as anything that Delon returned to the genre in Parole de flic, a shambolic thriller which probably rates as just about the worst thing he put his name to.

Despite a justified mauling from the critics, the film was another box office hit (it attracted an audience of 2.5 million in France) but it was pretty well the last gasp for this kind of film, and Delon's subsequent career continued on its ever-downwards trajectory, his popularity well and truly on the wane.  Director José Pinheiro makes a determined effort to invigorate a dying genre but, as he did with his subsequent Delon vehicle Ne réveillez pas un flic qui dort (1988), he gets carried away and his artistic embellishments look horribly self-conscious and over the top.  Looking like a second rate Peckinpah, Pinheiro takes a mildly dreadful script and merely turns it into a totally dreadful film - his task no doubt made more difficult by Delon's egomania, which comes through in this film more so than in any other he appeared in.

From its muddled opening, which hops back and forth between past and present with a succession of pointlessly graphic bursts of ultra-violence, Parole de flic soon reveals itself to be just another routine revenge thriller, even though it tries desperately hard to convince you otherwise.  You wonder why Delon bothered to include any other actor for this film - his only interest seems to be in promoting himself, and every shot in which he appears is meticulously composed to make him look every inch 'the big star'.  The film ends up looking like a fond love letter - written by Delon to himself.

The forty-nine year-old actor has lost none of his charisma and his presence alone keeps us watching the film, but that's really all it has to offer - just wall-to-wall Delon doing what Delon enjoys doing best.  The one surprising kink in this heap of dross is Delon's clown act at the end of the film - there's an unexpected poignancy in Delon's performance at this point, almost as if he has accepted his best days are behind him.  In a way, they were - he was no longer a major screen icon, but he would forge a new career on television two decades later, once more pulling in large audiences with his Fabio Montale and Frank Riva series.

Film Synopsis

A former French police officer, Daniel Pratt now lives out a peaceful retirement in Africa.  One day, a telegram arrives notifying him that his grown-up daughter Mylène has been killed in Lyon whilst carrying out a robbery with some friends.  Back in France, Daniel discovers that his daughter was the victim of a group of five men who spend their evenings harrassing immigrants and other undesirables.  This discovery brings back some unhappy memories.  Ten years ago the same five thugs were brought to trial for the murder of Daniel's wife, but they were acquitted through lack of evidence.  Ignoring the advice of his friends and former associates, Daniel sets out to find his daughter's killers.  This time, he is determined that they will not escape justice...