You’ll probably be reminded of Michael Mann’s 1995 masterpiece Heat while watching Flic Story. Both films involve a cop and a criminal who are singularly dedicated to their personas. Both films split their time equally between the two main characters, giving insight into how both their minds work. Both men have a certain respect for the other, though this will not stop either one from doing what they need to do. They both also have a scene where the two men meet in a cafe.
Buy Flic StoryBeyond those similarities, though, the two films are vastly different in terms of style and what they set out to do. Based on a true story, Flic Story follows Roger Borniche (Alain Delon), a French detective of the National Police, as he doggedly pursues Émile Buisson (Jean-Louis Trintignant), a violent criminal who has just escaped from a mental hospital.
Buisson wastes no time once he’s out and immediately puts a gang together to start a series of violent robberies. Borniche is in line for a promotion and is given this case as a test. It becomes a quite famous case, with Buisson becoming Public Enemy No. 1 and garnering loads of press attention. This causes Borniche’s boss to put constant pressure on him to solve the case quickly.
But Buisson is a tough customer. He has many friends in the underground willing to offer him hideouts. It helps that he’s more than willing to murder anyone he thinks might possibly squeal on him. Borniche is an intense investigator, and a peculiar one. He chastises one of his men for getting rough with a potential witness, but then will do everything within his power to cajole anyone to tell him where Buisson is hiding out. At one point, he tells a man whose wife is dying that if he talks, he’ll make sure his wife will get the medicine she needs from America, but if he doesn’t, he’ll throw him in jail right now and he’ll never see her again.
Borniche’s side of the film is very much a procedural. We’ll follow him tracking down leads, interviewing suspects, trying to convince anyone and everyone to turn on Buisson. When Buisson kills someone he thinks was squealing on him, Borniche will immediately turn to their surviving loved ones for information.
Buisson is a psychopath. When one robbery is over, he’s immediately planning the next. He seemingly never commits a crime without also committing a murder. In one robbery, a guy makes a slight move toward a telephone – bang, he’s dead. In another one, a guy happens to walk by and look through the window – bye bye, sucker. A motorcycle cop gives chase; he slams his car into him. Then he gets out of his car, even though the officer is clearly incapacitated, and shoots him dead. He either kills or puts the fear of God into anyone who could even possibly get him caught.
I’m making this sound more exciting than it is. Director Jacques Deray gives everything a documentary feel. Even the chase sequences and killings lack any sort of thrill. Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. But excitement isn’t the point. Based on the real Borniche’s book, Flic Story tries to be realistic in its depiction of police work and the utter brutality of Buisson. I watch a lot of American crime films and am a bit obsessed with American gangsters and serial killers, so it’s quite fascinating to take in the French side of things.
Delon and Trintignant are wonderful. Delon, usually so cold and reserved in his performances, lets warmth in during scenes with his wife and a sly, sarcastic side with his boss. Trintignant is calculating in his psychopathy. More than once, characters ask him if he’s crazy, and he just stares at them with his cold eyes. Together, they make for a truly compelling story.
Kino Lorber presents Flic Story with a brand new HD Master by Studio Canal from a 4K scan of the original 35 mm camera negative.
- Extras include the following:
- Audio Commentary by Film Historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson
- Flic Story: A Eurocrime Procedural – Video Essay by Will Webb
- Theatrical Trailer
- Lossless 2.0 Audio
- Dual-Layered BD50 Disc
- In French with Optional English Subtitles
