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Terrific fictional analysis of the workings of a Parisian child protection unit that has drawn rather facile comparisons with The Wire and Spiral but digs just as deep as those excellent TV shows in a different way.
The informality of the police station (I'm still trying to get my head around the civil law procedures as depicted in Spiral) contrasts with some heavily emotional home lives and the often flabbergastingly depressing subject matter - paedophilia is to the fore in its many guises and the movie is a real wincefest at times.
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Police procedure film following the CPU(Child protection unit) in Paris, and what is fantastic about this film is the Structure and story, we follow the team, getting into their lives on and of the job, and the various case throughout this time, no major plot thread, no investigation into mr big, just case by case, see more of these lives then onto the next encounter, a few threads carry on or lead up to, but its always a fresh look…
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Whenever anything is compared to The Wire my ears instantly prick up. It’s been 3 long years since David Simons Greatest TV programme ever madeÔ came to it’s conclusion and it’s left an unfulfilled gap in my viewing habits ever since. So it was with great expectations I went to see Maiween’s Polisse. The film is a portrait of life in the CPU (child protection unit) of the Paris police department. It interweaves the case work and personal lives of…
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Forte e assustador!
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Outstanding, hyper-realistic examination of the lives of CPU (child protection unit) officers in Paris. For a film dealing with an uncomfortable subject it is at times uplifting and hilarious as the unit members seek refuge from the soul-destroying rigours of the day job. Which isn't to say its a laugh a minute, the abuses are laid bare and the fact that the cases portrayed are based on real-life crimes is sobering and saddening but this isn't the one-note, depressing movie…
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This drama follows the lives of several members of a police Child Protection Unit in Paris. Supposedly based on real events, much of the film has the feel of authenticity although the central characters at the heart of the drama do not always ring true. A central problem is an unconvincing scene in which officers collapse in hysterical laughter whilst questioning a girl who has traded oral sex for a smartphone. The scene rings neither true nor funny because having…
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Polisse is a movie which depicts perhaps the ugliest side of humanity. It is among the most powerful movies I have come across as it uses a documentary approach to bring a harrowing collection of stories to the fore. And it is due to the style and phenomenal cast that you have to question whether there is really any acting taking place here. From the adults to the kids, it’s simply off the charts!
The movie explores the Parisian Child…
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Later than intended and longer than anticipated, the Movie Matters podcast returns for its first instalment of the new year. In the first part of this bumper six-hour epic, co-hosts Lee Howard and Michael Mackenzie count down their personal top ten films of the previous year, celebrating both the very best and worst that 2012 had to offer. In part two, the attention shifts to the listeners' choices as Lee and Michael read out and listen to MP3s of submitted…
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"Take the police procedural, layer it with the impact of crimes tied to the abuse of juveniles, and then add the more mundane realism of cops so frustrated by their personal lives, policy constraints and dealing with the aforementioned victims on a daily basis that you start to be more involved with their strained interactions than the investigations they pursue. This is the gray world of POLISSE, a cop drama that takes very familiar territory, yet plumbs it for moments we could never expect. The first of several films that made this list that left me staggered by their emotional intensity." -CB
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Undecided if it is a comedy or a drama.
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When I started watching this film it was such a disappointment. It seemed so pedestrian, so unremarkable; a film I had heard good things about...
Then at the halfway mark, a woman turns up with her son, in what was the most harrowing scene in the film for me; truly upsetting and it didn't relate to child abuse, quite the opposite.
That is not to say that child abuse is not harrowing. But the way it is covered in the…
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From France. Interesting look at the Parisian Child Protection Unit. Based on actual cases its a well made, realistic, gritty, fly on the wall type of drama that can at times be a difficult watch.
A winner at Cannes 2011 it's also been nominated for over a dozen other awards.