Cinema Wednesdays - Special edition: Gangsters in film - Loris S. Musumeci
«As I say these words, I am thinking, of course, of my friend Pierre Michel. This intrepid judge who gave his life to put an end to the French Connection. His death is a great loss for France. Justice must be done.»
Judge Pierre Michel was murdered on October 21, 1981, on Boulevard Michelet in Marseille's eighth arrondissement. Three 9 mm bullets. Death was instantaneous. He was riding home on his motorcycle to have lunch with his family. Two motorcyclists followed him, seizing the opportunity to shoot him. It couldn't have been any other way. The murder was ordered by the highest authorities of the French Connection, at a time when it was in the greatest difficulty, at a time when it was preparing to disappear under the weight of arrests. It was Pierre Michel who had been attacking it for almost seven years. She returned the favor. But the judge's fight paid off. And if the judge didn't win the war, he did win a battle, at the cost of his life. La French (2014) by Cédric Jimenez is loosely based on these true events.
The mafia
A fictionalized biography. Although Pierre Michel was and remains an important figure in the fight against organized crime, he has been brought back into the limelight by this film. Through elements of fiction, in a cinema for the general public, La French shows us what a real hero is, in a context where criminals rule. Like the figure of Judge Falcone, killed by the Mafia in Italy, that of Judge Michel gives much-needed hope to the fight against crime, to the fight against men who claim to have honor, when they are the authors of no honor, no merit, no strength, but of the tears of more vulnerable victims, of the deaths of honest people.
Just for that, La French is worth it. Because the mafia and other mean-spirited clans are always at work, in Marseille, in France, in Italy, throughout Europe in various forms, and around the world, ever more violently. Not to mention drugs. We're no longer in the seventies heroines, However, the fact remains that young people, and not only young people, are still sinking into the misery of drugs that debase, stultify, impoverish, alienate and even kill. As with all underground markets, there are those responsible. And those who fight them pay a high price.
Neapolitan journalist Roberto Saviano has been condemned to death by the camorra (Neapolitan mafia) since 2006, when his best-selling book Gomorra. By explicitly telling the world the truth about these violent buffoons, he has not only made friends. The allusion is worthwhile, precisely because, in the film, Pierre Michel often says he has no respect for criminals, poor guys who do a lot of damage. He even says it to the face of Zampa, his enemy and boss of the French.
The film is about the mafia in Marseille, about Judge Michel, about policemen and politicians who are either really brave or really corrupt, but it's also about an era. The late seventies, early eighties. And beyond the work of memory, the call to courage against crime, sensations as befits detective films, La French is first and foremost a feature-film charm, thanks to its atmosphere and its era.
In the seventies
Cars, motorcycles, coastal roads, sunglasses, but also elegance. More classic suits and ties, denim jackets or more relaxed leather jackets. And moccasins, always well-waxed, of course. And cigarettes. And the southern bistro with a little express’. And the telephones flooding the offices, and the typewriter whose keys clack and clack.
In terms of décor, there's the courthouse, with its wide aisles and dark offices where people smoke, as if to add smoky nuances to the atmosphere. The interiors of the apartments, with their beige floral wallpaper, or their highly lacquered, colorful, whimsical Pop art-style furniture. And the party venues, under the bright lights of crazy discos from the early eighties, including the Krypton, featured in the film, which was actually founded in 1980 by Zampa.
Zampa, played too harshly by Gilles Lellouche, who doesn't disappoint. Gilles Lellouche plays the enemy of Judge Michel, played by Jean Dujardin. The two actors resemble each other physically. In the film, the two characters are seen as complementary rather than total opposites. And the great strength of the staging, beyond a few obvious flaws, is that the confrontation between the judge and the boss takes shape in the very special atmosphere of the Seventies. With their respective moves, their looks, their convictions, their outfits, their roles as stubborn and respected leaders, they help to create the atmosphere, in addition to the scenery and all the typical elements of the era.
Bang bang
While they don't confront each other in a more virile face-off than if they'd stabbed each other in a single sequence, the two characters are linked, because both suffer their respective blows without appearing in the same scene. But they are also linked by the music. It's quite astonishing, and truly original, that on several occasions the - very seventies, The soundtrack's two main themes - Michel's and Zampa's - make a strong contribution to the mood, crossing the scenes to join the opposite camp: the Michel camp, the Zampa camp. Michel and Zampa share the soundtrack with the melancholy This Bitter Earth by Dinah Washington, the festive That's how I love you sung by Mike Brant, Call Me of Blondie or Bang Bang performed by Sheila.
Bang bang, and Zampa, exhausted, weeps in his wife's arms. Bang bang, and Michel, embracing his daughters, is condemned to die. Bang bang, This is the story of the French Connection. Bang bang, the judge and the boss face off. Bang bang, the judge was shot. Bang bang, Let justice be done. Bang bang, but where is the justice? Bang bang, when corruption strikes again. Bang bang, when the blood of judges is still flowing. Bang bang, when the underworld enriches itself on the backs of human misery. Bang bang, when La French remains relevant. Bang bang.
Write to the author: loris.musumeci@leregardlibre.com
Photo credit: © Gaumont
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