Hard-nosed detective Marceau Léonetti (Lino Ventura) makes the mistake of arresting the son of an influential lawyer. For his trouble, he’s sent to a backwater police station where his biggest case is chasing down some missing pigeons. Eventually, a friend bails him out and puts him on a special detail. He’s assigned a partner, a young, inexperienced woman named Jeanne (Marlène Jobert). They run a sting operation where she sits inside movie theaters looking young and innocent, and he arrests the perverts that molest her.
Buy Last Known Address Blu-rayIt is a miserable job for both of them. It is way below Marceau’s skill set and makes her feel like a piece of meat. She considers quitting, but just in time they are given another assignment. They are to track down the only witness to a crime whose testimony will help put a master criminal away. The other witness has died, and without some live testimony, the gangster will walk. The only trouble is this witness has disappeared. Nobody knows where he is. The police have looked everywhere.
Last Known Address leans heavily into the shoe-leather aspect of policing. We watch our two leads walk all around Paris, knocking on doors and asking questions. They’ll get just enough information from one person to lead them to yet another door where they will ask more questions. They meticulously dig through records looking for information. Despite an opening credits sequence in which a man is chased across the city while shooting innocent civilians, the film is not action packed. It is thoughtful, reflective.
Most of the male characters harass Jeanne in some way. They ogle her, make rude remarks, or ask her out. But Marceau treats her with respect, as a partner. He has way more experience than her, so he becomes a mentor. He shows her the ropes but never talks down to her. She, in turn, follows him around like a puppy dog. He’s a tall, large man, and she’s a short, skinny woman. The way she follows him from behind, literally hopping to keep up with his broad strides, reminded me of that old cartoon Spike the Bulldog and Chester the Terrier. But when he stops to question someone, she pushes herself in front of him to get in on it. She very much wants to learn and be considered good police. I quite enjoyed watching their relationship grow and her confidence climb as he allows her to become more involved in the proceedings.
Meanwhile, some of the bad guy’s gang are following them. They keep their distance because they need to find the witness too. They need to kill him just as badly as our heroes need to find him so he can testify.
Filmed in 1970, the movie is a fascinating glimpse into what Paris looked like at the time. The city had seen exponential growth in population during the previous decade, and the infrastructure was having difficulty keeping up. The film shows us lots of new buildings sitting next to lots that are still in rubble from World War II.
Our heroes eventually do find the witness and realize he has a sick, young daughter. They are so kind and caring to them it warms the heart. When they alert the higher-ups that they have their man, the police rush in to protect him. Before he testifies, he is the most important man in France. And then after he’s done his duty…well, I won’t spoil what they do with him then, but I will say it had me shouting at my television, and it completely broke my heart.
And that’s this film. Last Known Address isn’t flashy or exciting, but it gets under your skin. It presents the less action-oriented but highly important aspects of police work while shining a light on the inherent sexism and uncaring nature of the game.
Extras on this Blu-ray release from Kino Lorber include:
- 2020 4K Restoration
- Audio Commentary by Film Historians Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson
- Theatrical Trailer
Don’t skip that audio commentary. Those historian dig deep into the film and its makers.
