''Détective'' is a 1985 French
crime film
Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...
directed by
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as ...
. It was entered into the
1985 Cannes Film Festival
The 38th Cannes Film Festival took place from 8 to 20 May 1985. Czechoslovakian filmmaker Miloš Forman served as jury president for the main competition. Yugoslavian filmmaker Emir Kusturica won the ''Palme d'Or'', the festival's top prize, for t ...
.
The film won the Georges Delerue Award for Best Soundtrack/Sound Design at
Film Fest Gent
Film Fest Gent, also known as International Film Fest Gent, is an annual international film festival in Ghent, Belgium. The festival held its first edition in 1974, under the name Internationaal Filmgebeuren Gent, and has since grown into the la ...
in 1985.
Plot
In a room of a grand Paris hotel, two detectives are keeping watch. One is William, who used to be the hotel detective until he was fired after an unexplained death in that room. The other is his nephew Isidore, accompanied by his girlfriend Arielle. In a second room is Jim, a boxing promoter, accompanied by his boxer Tiger with his girlfriend Princesse. Jim is counting on a big win for Tiger, in order to repay his debt to a couple in a third room. These are Émile, a pilot whose business charters are losing money, and his wife Françoise. Émile is in urgent need of cash to avoid collapse and to give his wife a divorce. A fourth room has, with his entourage, an old mafioso who has turned up to collect old debts, including some from Jim.
While Émile is busy flying, Françoise starts an affair with Jim, who gives her money for new clothes, and the two agree to pair up if both get the payoff they are expecting. The upcoming fight melts away when Tiger disappears with Princesse, leaving Jim just her jewels. Émile, when Françoise says she will leave him for Jim, shoots Jim dead. Attempting to retaliate, Isidore accidentally shoots William dead. Émile takes the old mafioso's granddaughter hostage and is shot dead by the "family".
Cast
*
Claude Brasseur as Émile Chenal
*
Nathalie Baye
Nathalie Marie Andrée Baye (; born 6 July 1948) is a French film, television, and stage actress. She began her career in 1970 and has appeared in more than 80 films. A ten-time César Award nominee, her four wins were for ''Every Man for Himsel ...
as Françoise Chenal
*
Johnny Hallyday
Jean-Philippe Léo Smet (; 15 June 1943 – 5 December 2017), better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday, was a French rock and roll and Pop music, pop singer and actor, credited with having brought rock and roll to France.
During a career ...
as Jim Fox Warner
*
Laurent Terzieff as William Prospero
*
Jean-Pierre Léaud as Isidore
*
Alain Cuny
René Xavier Marie Alain Cuny (12 July 1908 – 16 May 1994) was a French actor of stage and screen. He was closely linked with the works of Paul Claudel and Antonin Artaud, and for his performances for the Théâtre national populaire and ...
as Old Mafioso
*
Emmanuelle Seigner as Princesse
*
Julie Delpy as Young Girl
* Aurelle Doazan as Arielle
* Stéphane Ferrara as Tiger Jones
Production
About her nude scenes in this movie, Emmanuelle Seigner recalled that, "The first day Godard asked me to take off my bra, the second the panties. So I protested: 'Who did you take me for?' Finally Godard said: 'Keep your panties'. I was 17, I had no desire to appear naked in a movie."
See also
*
Jean-Luc Godard filmography
References
External links
*
1985 films
1985 crime films
1980s avant-garde and experimental films
1980s French-language films
French avant-garde and experimental films
French crime films
Films directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Films set in hotels
Georges Delerue Award winners
1980s French films
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