36 Quai Des Orfèvres

Viva le cops and robbers.

This is one of those films. Yeah, one of them. You know the ones – the kind that end up being remade when some Hollywood director discovers the DVD tucked away in some obscure corner of their local video shop. Statistically and all, the inevitable remake will likely suck so hard that it could lift up this ten pound bowling ball… but don’t think for a moment that this means the source material is no good.

36 Quai Des Orfèvres – or 36, if you’re averse to trying to pronounce French words – is pretty much just another traditional cops versus cops story. Writer, director and actor Olivier Marchal isn’t exactly covering any new ground here. He’s not pushing any boundaries or going boldly where only William Shatner has gone before. What he has done, though, is to take a concept that’s tired and overdone and moulded it into something that’s completely and utterly brilliant.

The set-up is pretty typical. Basically, there’s a gang getting around Paris that’s stopping bank vans and, without any permission, ‘borrowing’ the cash they’re transporting. They’re rather trigger-happy, too, having plugged a dozen security guards over the past few months. Robert Mancini, the head of the Crime Investigations Department, has had enough. He’s also retiring soon, so naturally the only thing for him to do is to put out a challenge to the two men who are qualified to fill his position – Leo Vrinks and Denis Klein, the respective heads of the Search and Action Squad and Anti-Crime Unit – to take the bastards down. Whoever does so scores the gig, pretty much.

Of course, Vrinks and Klein have moral codes that are about as sound as the Titanic was unsinkable… so neither is going to give up without a fight. Or, as the case may be, without getting righteously shit-faced and getting random colleagues killed.

I’m no expert on the French police force, but this film is supposed to be pretty authentic. Marchal, you see, used to be a cop. He saw this sort of corruption on a day-to-day basis, so I guess he knows what he’s on about.
No matter how realistic this film is or isn’t, though, it’s most definitely one hell of a ride. The gunplay is very cool. It’s not over-the-top, though, and nowhere near as insane as some of the stuff you’d see in an American take on the same material. It manages to remain within the boundaries of realism, sanity and a budget of less than a bazillion dollars. And yes, for all you film snobs out there who fail to see the quality in those B-grade things poor old Steven Segal whores himself out to these days, I promise that there aren’t that many gratuitous explosions.

And for the DTS faithful out there, I assure you that you’ll be giggling and piddling in this one scene towards the middle of the film, when the gang of merry robbers (sans tights) faces off against the police with an assortment of rifles, grenades and machineguns.

The quality of production and direction are just fantastic. The pacing is perfect and the scenes are in a nice and sensible order. The introductory sequence is just great, managing to titillate the viewer with a bit of action and bring them up to speed on the back-story at the same time. And while there are a few, this isn’t one of those films that will drive you nuts with an overabundance of flashbacks.

Check this one out, especially if you like things like Collateral and Training Day. It’s not exactly the same thing, so don’t go in expecting cars with those funky hydraulics or a psycho Tom Cruise getting about the place with a gun, but it’ll probably rock your boxers if you’re into that sort of thing. Movies like Collateral, I mean. Not Tom Cruise.