I've seen two of Chabrol's earlier, more famous films, Le boucher and Les biches (The Butcher and The Does respectively), and, honestly, they did little for me. I've been meaning to seek out more since he passed away last September, and I finally got to one here.
And I liked it. Quite a bit. Chabrol's genre of choice is the murder mystery, and, from what I've seen, they're kind of subtle, scaled-back ones. Cop au vin involves a small town beset by murders and disappearances. Kindly-seeming police detective Jean Poiret shows up in town and begins to unravel the mystery. What's particularly good about this film is that we, at first, suspect Poiret is pure business. He's neatly dressed, seems nice, but also smart enough to figure out what's going on. Frankly, what I was expecting was a French version of Matlock when he showed up. But then Poiret begins revealing his true colors, and we find out his nice guy appearance is just a facade. This is the type of guy who thinks nothing of beating the crap out of anyone he suspects might be lying. And I certainly am not the type to think that's cool. We're meant not to like him very much. It's kind of a neat reversal of expectations.
Thankfully, Poiret is not really the center of the movie. Lucas Belvaux plays a sweet, kind of dumb postal worker who lives with his domineering, crippled mother (Stéphane Audran, Chabrol's ex-wife and frequent star). Their dilapidated mansion is the center of a real estate conspiracy which is connected to the murders. Adorable Pauline Lafont plays Belvaux's nutty co-worker with whom he begins a relationship.
Poiret's character, Inspector Jean Lavardin, got his own sequel the next year, and a television series a couple of years later.
And I liked it. Quite a bit. Chabrol's genre of choice is the murder mystery, and, from what I've seen, they're kind of subtle, scaled-back ones. Cop au vin involves a small town beset by murders and disappearances. Kindly-seeming police detective Jean Poiret shows up in town and begins to unravel the mystery. What's particularly good about this film is that we, at first, suspect Poiret is pure business. He's neatly dressed, seems nice, but also smart enough to figure out what's going on. Frankly, what I was expecting was a French version of Matlock when he showed up. But then Poiret begins revealing his true colors, and we find out his nice guy appearance is just a facade. This is the type of guy who thinks nothing of beating the crap out of anyone he suspects might be lying. And I certainly am not the type to think that's cool. We're meant not to like him very much. It's kind of a neat reversal of expectations.
Thankfully, Poiret is not really the center of the movie. Lucas Belvaux plays a sweet, kind of dumb postal worker who lives with his domineering, crippled mother (Stéphane Audran, Chabrol's ex-wife and frequent star). Their dilapidated mansion is the center of a real estate conspiracy which is connected to the murders. Adorable Pauline Lafont plays Belvaux's nutty co-worker with whom he begins a relationship.
Poiret's character, Inspector Jean Lavardin, got his own sequel the next year, and a television series a couple of years later.