Halfway between an investigative film and a plot about drug trafficking, Thierry de Peretti’s third feature asks whether it is possible to eliminate drugs, ‘the capitalist product par excellence’.
In his third feature as director, Thierry de Peretti leaves his native Corsica where he set the vigorous ‘Les Apaches’ (2013) and ‘Une vie violente’ (2017), but maintains and reaffirms his stylistic commitment. His cinema is based on a powerful staging, which flees from the ostentatiousness and the self-imposed rhythm to compose a dramatic continuous bass that stands out from the tachycardia constants of the genre. Articulated from long and suffocating shots –to which the 1:33 format contributes–, the film unfolds before the viewer as something without control, a passage that gives an idea of the impossibility of putting doors to the field, or in this case , fight against drug trafficking and its ramifications in the structures of the system.
Halfway between the political thriller, the journalistic investigation and the judicial tape, in ‘A State Scandal’, as in ‘The Wire’ –a reference with which it is tonally and narratively related–, all are shadows, nothing seems entirely clear. And less his characters, loaded with chiaroscuro that are revealed as the action becomes entangled and everything disappears into the darkness of the night.
For those who want to get lost (and outraged) in the sewers of the system
DATA SHEET
Address: Thierry dePeretti Distribution: Pio Marmai, Roschdy Zem, Vincent Lindon, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Mylène Jampanoï Country: France Year: 2021 Release date: 22–07-2022 Gender: thriller Script: Thierry dePeretti, Jeanne Aptekman. Book: Hubert Avoine, Emmanuel Fansten Duration: 120 minutes
Synopsis: October 2015. French customs agents seize seven tons of cannabis in the heart of the capital. On the same day, Hubert Antonie, a former mole with a cloudy past, contacts Stéphane Vilner, a journalist for Libération. He assures that he can prove the existence of a state drug trafficker led by Jacques Billard, a high-ranking French media figure and police officer. Although initially suspicious, the young journalist eventually dives into the investigation, which leads him into the darkest corners of the Republic.
Source: Fotogramas
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
