The other day me and my friend cam out of the cinema. We had just seen VOLVER by Almodovar, and my friend made a very astute observation. She said: "In the beginning I had difficulties to get into this film. It is so uncommon to watch a film where there are so few cuts within the first ten minutes. Nowadays, when I go to the movies, I expect a car to be blown up or a man to be killed or an army to be set in motion within the first scenes". Le petit lieutenant had the same impact on me. Before seeing it, I thought: O.K., this is a cop film, a whodunit maybe, with a well conceived plot and lots of tension. Fortunately, I was mistaken. This film doesn't rush us into violent crime scenes and bold snide remarks by worn out and disillusioned cops. Instead it gives us an accurate account of everyday police work and it tells us how boring and dull police work can be. Due to these scenes of boredom the sequences where there is some real violence have a bigger impact on the viewer. Anyway, I just want to say, that I was completely thrilled by the realism of this film and I am staring to prefer European cinema to American cinema.
Review of The Young Lieutenant
