Directed by:
Olivier MarchalScreenplay:
Olivier MarchalCinematography:
Denis RoudenComposer:
Bruno CoulaisCast:
Daniel Auteuil, Olivia Bonamy, Catherine Marchal, Francis Renaud, Gérald Laroche, Guy Lecluyse, Philippe Nahon, Clément Michu, Moussa Maaskri (more)Plots(1)
Ever since the brutal slaughter of her parents, Justine has lived in solitude, wishing to remain as close to invisible as possible. However, the early release of the killer stirs up fear and pain. She finds an unlikely source of comfort in Louis Schneider, a troubled Crime Squad cop in Marseille. With his police force discredited by a series of particularly savage and vicious murders which remain inexplicably unsolved, Schneider, an incorruptible individualist, decides to go against the opinion of his superiors and begins an investigation which will lead him to the gates of hell. Will helping Justine lead him to some form of redemption? (StudioCanal UK)
(more)Reviews (8)
Marchal once again puts his experience in the police force to use and creates a world full of assholes and even bigger assholes through one filter after another. Auteuil proves again and again why he is the best actor in continental Europe. Bruno Coulais managed to deliver a composition of a lifetime, and the screenplay is not nearly as run-of-the-mill as it may initially seem. And if you can find a more sensual femme fatale than Olivia Bonamy in France today, then I’d really like to meet her. But this all pales in comparison with one aspect. The atmosphere. It engrosses you right from the opening title sequence of the bus “hijacking". That scene is literally everything a viewer (like me) could ask from this kind of movie. And the best part? That it didn’t end there, but continued like that for the rest of the movie, even though the pace was a bit slow in places (although this time it kind of worked for me). If Marchal’s 36th Precinct revived the classic French crime movie and brought it to the threshold of the 21st century, then The Last Deadly Mission gives us hope that it wasn’t just a shot in the dark.
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The Last Deadly Mission is a dark psychodrama with a criminal theme, shot in the style of classic French detective stories. The main role of the broken policeman, who transforms his futile struggle for justice into total self-destruction, was played very convincingly by Daniel Auteuil. The movie gradually picks up the pace until towards the end it uncompromisingly explodes into a crushing finale. (75%)
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Olivier Marchal, a former law enforcement officer and director with a God-given talent, tells another story. That story is that carrying a badge is a heavy burden and it usually doesn't end with the discovery of the killer. Marchal tells the story simply, almost sparingly, and more or less in images. He doesn't prattle on in dialogue and the actors make it all feel incredibly vital, pulsating, and real, like life in uniform itself. The best "crime" film since Zodiac.
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The French have done it again. MR 73 is one of the grittiest crime dramas I've ever seen. This film is about honour! An homage to the torture, the courage, and the lives of the people the film is based on. The biggest highlight is definitely the birth at the end, which convinced me that I never wanted to see one with my own eyes in my life.
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The Last Deadly Mission is a gloomy film-noir crime thriller in the vein of Fincher’s Se7en or Zodiac, with a powerful atmosphere of despondency, the great Daniel Auteuil, the beautiful and fragile Olivia Bonamy, dialogue scenes with dirty napkins in an ashtray with cold whiskey spilled on them. It is a brilliantly made film in technical terms, but the screenplay could have cut down a bit on Auteuil’s drinking. He drinks probably more than Nic Cage in Leaving Las Vegas and it makes the film seem 20 minutes longer than it actually is. But all that diligently constructed gloom still deserves a solid four stars.
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