Inspecteur Lavardin **** (1986, Jean Poiret, Jean-Claude Brialy, Bernadette Lafont) – Classic Movie Review 3552

This polished 1986 thriller is a successful second trip by director Claude Chabrol into territory that he carved out as his own – the French provincial thriller. Jean Poiret easily sustains a smooth and seemingly effortless reprise of his sardonic cop character, Inspecteur Jean Lavardin, from 1985’s Poulet au Vinaigre [aka Cop au Vin].

Poiret scored such a hit as Inspecteur Lavardin in Poulet au Vinaigre that a rare immediate sequel was called for the following year, and this time he is the film’s main focus as his character called in to investigate the murder of a French rural village bigwig, who was upsetting people by taking himself as village’s moral guardian. Lavardin is surprised to find that the man’s widow is his own old flame, Héléne Mons (Bernadette Lafont).

The plot, in the screenplay by Claude Chabrol and Dominique Roulet is twisty, weird and satisfying, and, as director, Chabrol handles it with plenty of tension and just a soupçon of nastiness.

Jean-Claude Brialy, star of the director’s 1958 film début Le Beau Serge, shows his acting quality as Claude Alvarez, a creepy collector of glass eyes. Well, that would be creepy, wouldn’t it?

Also in the cast are Jean-Luc Bideau, Jacques Dacqmine, Hermine Claire, Pierre-François Dumeniaud, Florent Gibassier, Guy Louret, Jean Depussé, Marc Adam, Michel Dupuy and Serge Feuillet.

It was shot at Dinard, Ille-et-Vilaine, France.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 3552

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