Transposing a TV series to and/or for the big screen is not unlike expanding a short story into a novel i.e. why bother; the obvious answer in the case of the former is money; couch potatoes who enjoyed the series may venture to the local Multiplex and the strictly cinema audience probably missed the TV series. What we have here is slick entertainment set in that long Edwardian summer that culminated in the First World War and the Russian Revolution, both of which are offscreen characters here. The period doesn't figure that often in mega-buck movies although the last Arsene Lupin movie and A Very Long Engagement infringed upon it. As entertainment it hits all its targets and non-French audiences are unlikely to be distracted by familiar names - Deneuve, Depardieu, Binoche, Huppert etc - though the French film buff will be reassured by the presence of the reliable Jacques Gamblin, Gerard Jugnot and somewhat more erratic Clovis Cornillac. Guillaume Canet's ex-wife Diane Kruger has a central role but luckily she's not prevailed upon to act anything more demanding than gorgeous and/or sympathetic which she does as well as any equally gorgeous non-actress (she does it again in her latest, Pour Elle, in the salles now and it's all pretty harmless. If you like to be entertained and think you're learning a little about social history at the same time this is probably for you.

I don't like the first review that was made on it...Just to explain one of my "complaints" : first, it is not a "special forces type film" at all...and i won't even comment on the rest...*roll eyes*

This film is a success in many aspects IMHO despite all the fears i had when i discovered who would be directing it...

It's adapted from a very well-known French TV series of the same name which was a huge success in the 70s in France. The script is well-written IMHO. You feel they've done their homework. The magazine Historia even dedicated a whole edition to this movie in a way and the whole historical period it depicted... Interviews of its makers revealed that they've done their best to keep the spirit of the series while still taking risks etc...like choosing a Belgian to play an Occitan French with a strong southern accent typical of Occitans(that's a bit polemical here by the way...), trying to mix huge parts of history and historical figures in the story (Minister Jean Jaurès and his journal L'Humanité, Paris Préfet etc...), The Triple Entente, the "prémices" of WWI, the 'Russian Loans', "La Bande à Bonnot", the "prémices" of the Russian Revolution and of socialism, emergence of new types of criminality and new ways of fighting crime in response, rivalry between the Brigades du Tigre and the Parisian Police in Paris and other Préfectures in the rest of France..., scientific discoveries which started helping the police at the time, the corruption and affairs of the time, touchy political subjects of the time and used for some of them to make parallels with current situations and to fire critics at some current problems in France etc...

The European actors (German Diane Kruger, Italian Stefano Accorsi from the great movie Romanzo Criminale, Belgian star Olivier Gourmet that it's no need to present now after having shown his talent times and times again, he's choosing a new kind of role for him there...) are fantastic, same for the Frenchies: Clovis Cornillac (this guy is over talented and it still shows in "popular" films like that...), Léa Drucker (she's not only good in plays, cinéma should use her more after this and Virgil hopefully...), Édouard Baer, Agnès Soral (always in small roles but always perfect), Flamand on top...; the characters are well-depicted, the feeling of the time too, musically, esthetically that's OK too (i couldn't forget of the main theme song after seeing the movie, Olivier Florio modernized it well...). Go see it!

It's got so many levels to it and it succeeds at each of them : drama, critics made, historical depiction and analysis in a way, action, aesthetic aspect of the film (its overall look etc...i don't know if the word aesthetic is even existing ...erm...), and so on...For once, a film based on a successful TV series isn't a flop...

I can't wait to see the sequel. Yep. A sequel is already in the making. These characters (both fictive or real) and the time period they evolve in can give a lot more since they're so rich so i think that's justified...=)

I hope you'll find my review helpful guys...

PS : I appologize in advance for any butchering of English i would have made. It would not be not intentional. My English is actually that bad... Sorry.

Inspired by a successful French series of the 70s, this film deals with the first mobile brigade, a police force set up in 1907, at the 'Belle Époque', by the Minister of the Interior Georges Clemenceau, nicknamed 'the tiger'. The sets and costumes are excellent, the cast is rather successful except for the main character, the police superintendent Paul Valentin played by Clovis Cornillac in the film instead of the late Jean-Claude Bouillon in the series. Clovis Cornillac is certainly brilliant in Les chatouilles (Andrea Bescond, 2018) or Un long dimanche de fiançailles (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2004), but he completely alters the atmosphere of the series, with a charisma without subtlety, always acting like a bull in a china shop. The choice of this actor for this film is, in my humble opinion, detrimental. Otherwise, the film is globally pleasant.