''Flic Story'' is a French

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

thriller released on 1 October 1975, based on the autobiography of the same name written by French police detective Roger Borniche. Both film and book portray Borniche's nine-year pursuit of French gangster and murderer Emile Buisson, who was executed on 28 February 1956.Hayward p. 279 Directed by

Jacques Deray Jacques Deray (born Jacques Desrayaud, 19 February 1929 – 9 August 2003) was a French film director and screenwriter. Deray is prominently known for directing many crime films, crime and thriller films. Biography Born Jacques Desrayaud in Lyon, ...

, the film stars

Alain Delon Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon (; 8 November 1935 – 18 August 2024) was a French actor, film producer, screenwriter, singer, and businessman. Acknowledged as a cultural and cinematic leading man of the 20th century, Delon emerged as one of ...

and

Jean-Louis Trintignant Jean-Louis Xavier Trintignant (; 11 December 1930 – 17 June 2022) was a French actor. He made his theatrical debut in 1951, and went on to be regarded as one of the best French dramatic actors of the post-World War II, war era. He starred in m ...

as Borniche and Buisson respectively, supported by Claudine Auger and

André Pousse André Pousse (20 October 1919 – 9 September 2005) was a noted French actor and, in his youth, also a notable cyclist. Biography While primarily known as a leading French actor, André Pousse began his professional career as a cyclist (prim ...

Plot

''Flic Story'' follows a nine-year pursuit of Emile Buisson through France during the 1940s and 1950s, and illustrates the pursuit as a battle of intellect, focusing on a growing rapport between Buisson and the

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...

Borniche. Deray's humanizing of the characters was a trait used in his other films, and was a popular counter-cliché concept in France during the 1970s. The film story depicts Emile Buisson, following the death of his wife and child, escaping from a psychiatric institution in 1947 and returning to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Buisson, who three years later would become France's public enemy number one, begins a murderous rampage through the French capital. The opening scene shows reluctant detective (''flic'' is the French slang equivalent of "cop" in English) Borniche, who is given the case and pursues Buisson for three years,Flic Story
a
FilmSpot
retrieved July 30, 2007 while the latter evades capture by killing informants and anyone else he feels may give him away. Borniche, who unlike his colleagues, prides himself in a methodical approach, hunts Buisson through numerous alleyway chases, rooftop pursuits, car chases and gunfights, while putting his lover Catherine (Auger) in danger.
a
Films de France
retrieved 30 July 2007 When

bureaucracy Bureaucracy ( ) is a system of organization where laws or regulatory authority are implemented by civil servants or non-elected officials (most of the time). Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments ...

intervenes with Borniche's attempts, and politicians and the media begin speculating, he uses the assistance of another criminal, Paul Robier (Crauchet) to apprehend Buisson. The serial killer is finally captured after having committed over 30 murders and 100 robberies. The final sequences show Buisson telling Borniche that he would like to "take a hacksaw" to the throat of his informer, prompting a critically lauded line from Borniche that he would not get the chance.

Cast

as Roger Borniche *

as Émile Buisson * Renato Salvatori as Mario Poncini * Claudine Auger as Catherine (prototype – Martine Borniche, who in reality was not a girlfriend, but the wife of Roger Borniche) * Maurice Biraud as The patrol of the Saint-Appoline hotel *

as Jean-Baptiste Buisson * Mario David as Raymond Pelletier * Paul Crauchet as Paul Robier * Denis Manuel as Lucien Darros * Marco Perrin as Commissioner Viechens (his prototype is Commissioner Charles Chenevier, who was the chief of Roger Borniche) * Henri Guybet as Hidoine * Maurice Barrier as René Bollec * Françoise Dorner as Suzanne Bollec * Jacques Marin as Owner of the Inn in Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse * William Sabatier as Ange * Adolfo Lastretti as Jeannot

Production

Writers Bénédicte Kermadec and Alphonse Boudard worked with Deray on Roger Borniche's memoir in order to create the script. The film was produced by Delon, featuring

cinematography Cinematography () is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens (optics), lens to focus reflected light from objects into a real image that is transferred to some image sen ...

by Jean-Jacques Tarbès and an original score by Claude Bolling. The film was shot and printed on 35mm negative using spherical cinematographic processes, as was common with films produced through the 1950s to the early 1990s.Films using PCS:Spherical

Internet Movie Database IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

retrieved 30 July 2007 Production began on 3 February 1975, 18 years after Boisson's execution, and the film was shot on locations in both France and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

.Flic Story
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

retrieved 30 July 2007

Foreign releases

''Flic Story'' was released from 1975 to 1977 in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

as ''Cop Story'',

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

as ''Passi ruumishuoneelle'' and

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

as ''Der Bulle und der Killer'' or ''Flic Story - Duell in sechs Runden''. The film was rated '16' in Finland,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and

, while the latter downgraded it to '12' following the reunification.Flic Story
at the

retrieved 30 July 2007

Reception

''Flic Story'' received mainly positive reviews from critics. James Travers of ''Film de France'' praised the film for a "quality feel and sombre mood" and the lead actors for "humanity and depth". Travers also noted several similarities to the films of

Jean-Pierre Melville Jean-Pierre Grumbach (20 October 1917 – 2 August 1973), known professionally as Jean-Pierre Melville (), was a French filmmaker. Considered a spiritual godfather of the French New Wave, he was one of the first fully-independent French filmmake ...

, particularly '' Le Samourai''. Travers names the film as one of Deray's best, although the "end result isn’t quite a masterpiece". Other internet reviews noted similarities with Melville, and complimented the film for "unsentimental verve, intelligent pacing and refreshing honesty". Susan Hayward, author of ''French National Cinema'', also complimented the film, saying it departed from mainstream style. She gave particular praise on the differences between ''Flic Story'' and American films of the same genre, by the way Deray focuses on the intellects rather than the brawn of the two leading characters, as well as the understanding that grows between the two during "months of interrogation".

Gary Giddins Gary Giddins (born 1948) is an American jazz critic and author. He wrote for ''The Village Voice'' from 1973; his "Weather Bird" column ended in 2003. In 1986, Gary Giddins and John Lewis created the American Jazz Orchestra which presented conc ...

, printing his review from the 16 August 2005 issue of ''

The New York Sun ''The New York Sun'' is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative Online newspaper, news website and former newspaper based in Manhattan, Manhattan, New York. From 2009 to 2021, it operated as an (occasional and erratic) onlin ...

'', praised the film as "the most interesting and resonant" of Deray's work, and gave particular credit to Trintignant's "hair-trigger" performance. He also complimented the detail in the secondary characters, and said it was honest in its support for the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

. Giddins also, however, criticised the film's pacing.Giddins p. 196

Notes

References

* Cannon, Steve ''Popular Music in France from Chanson to Techno: Culture, Identity and Society'', 2003 * Giddins, Gary ''Natural Selection: Gary Giddins on Comedy, Film, Music, and Books'', 2006 * Hayward, Susan ''French National Cinema'', 2005 * Lisanti, Tom ''Film Fatales: Women in Espionage Films and Television, 1962-1973'', 2002

External links

*
''Flic Story''
at the

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Flic Story 1975 films 1975 crime thriller films 1975 crime drama films 1970s serial killer films French crime drama films Biographical films about French gangsters 1970s French-language films Films directed by Jacques Deray Films produced by Alain Delon Films set in the 1940s Films set in the 1950s Films set in Paris Films shot in France Films shot in Italy Police detective films Films scored by Claude Bolling Films based on autobiographies 1970s French films French-language crime thriller films