Détective *** (1985, Claude Brasseur, Nathalie Baye, Johnny Hallyday, Laurent Terzieff, Aurelle Doazan, Jean-Pierre Léaud) – Classic Movie Review 9510

Jean-Luc Godard’s jokey, peculiar 1985 French thriller Détective about four groups of people meeting in a Paris grand hotel, where a murder was committed two years before, is, as expected, provocative, progressive and experimental.

Godard is not interested in the plot, that is for sure, but he seems to like his cast and his characters, the talky script by producer Alain Sarde and Philippe Setbon, and the B-movie thriller genre generally.

It is dedicated to John Cassavetes, Clint Eastwood and Edgar G Ulmer, which may be a clue to the film’s mystery.

It stars Claude Brasseur, Nathalie Baye, Johnny Hallyday, Laurent Terzieff, Jean-Pierre Léaud as Inspector Neveu, Alain Cuny, Aurelle Doazan and Stéphane Ferrara.

International cover-model Emmanuelle Seigner lands a role here, aged 19, as Princess of the Bahamas, and so does Julie Delpy in her film debut as Wise young girl.

Classical music on the soundtrack includes Schubert, Wagner, Chopin and Liszt.

It was shot at the Hôtel Concorde Saint-Lazare, Paris 8, France.

Détective is directed by Jean-Luc Godard, runs 96 minutes is made by JLG Films and Sara Films, is written by Alain Sarde and Philippe Setbon, is released by Acteurs Auteurs Associés (AAA) (1985) (France), Artificial Eye (1985) (UK) and International Spectrafilm (1985) (US), is shot by Bruno Nuytten, is produced by Alain Sarde and Jean-Luc Godard, and is scored by Ornette Coleman (music) and Jean Schwarz (music supervision).

It is released by Optimum Home Entertainment (2005) (UK) (DVD).

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9510

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