L'ispettore Lavardin

In the middle of the eighties, it would be interesting to see what the survivors of the New Wavelet have become. Well, François Truffaut passed away in 1984 and Eric Rohmer persists in signing empty, sloppy films to show his "skills" at film-making. Her majesty Jean-Luc "God Ard" only keeps his small handful of faithful intellectual ones happy with his hermetic products like "Détective" (1985) or "je Vous Salue Marie" (1985). Same judgment for Jacques Rivette who drive many movie-goers indifferent with his version of "les Hauts De Hurlevents" (1985) (Wuthering Heights).

Fortunately, there's still Claude Chabrol to deliver us a worthy, understandable film even if his production as a whole is patchy. In 1985, "Poulet Au Vinaigre" boosted his career again and so the temptation to give it a sequel was inevitable. "Inspecteur Lavardin" is the heir of the 1985 film and features again the same main character plunged in the same bourgeois universe, in a different provincial town this time in Dinand in Brittany. He's still acted by Jean Poiret who seemed irreplaceable in this role.

The writer Raoul Mons was found murdered on the beach and Lavardin has to find the culprit. His investigation is the opportunity for Chabrol to break the respectable appearance of the upper-class milieu but also to include unexpected twists about the plot, notably when Lavardin found who the murderer is. Like in "Poulet Au Vinaigre", humor is the main motor of the film, notably with the way Lavardin employs to make his suspects talk. More than in the 1985 film, the witty personality of this maverick cop is more precise and deepened for the audience.

"Inspectur Lavardin" isn't as intense as "la Femme Infidèle" (1969) or "le Boucher" (1970) but with a palatable story and good acting in the bargain, it would be a shame to skip it. In 1988, a TV series entitled "les dossiers secrets De l'inspector Lavardin" will be launched and four installments will be shot.

NB: video and TV play an important role in the film. It must have given an idea to Chabrol about the direction his next film would take: "Masques" (1987).

This is actually rather a good, but not particularly noteworthy, detective movie. Chabrol re-uses a character of an earlier film, Inspecteur Lavardin from Poulet au Vinaigre, which was probably the most successful ingredient of that film. This later film is more entertaining and accessible than Poulet, primarily because it benefits from having a much better script, with more than a smattering of humour. In addition, the main characters are better drawn and acted than in Poulet. Of particular note are Jean-Claude Brialy playing Lavardin's outrageously camp and eccentric host, and Jean Poiret, now comfortably installed in the role of the unconventional, if not to say dangerous, detective Lavardin.

The plot is quite sophisticated, with some clever twists and turns. The unmasking of the murderer and the transfer of guilt are quite cleverly engineered, although the conclusion does raise some questions about Lavardin's (and Chabrol's?) own personal morality. That, coupled with Lavardin's somewhat brutal technique from extracting truth from the witnesses and suspects, can only serve to undermine his position as the good guy in any subsequent film.

The complicated story unveils itself with the line of clues the inspector follows. It reveals more and more and we get surprised all along. A bit static compared to today's movies, but the story is worth it.

I don't understand people's affection for Chabrol's films. I've watched a handful of them and they are fungibly torpid.

In Inspecteur Lavardin we have a set of smarmy characters - all utterly amused with themselves and their problems - and a story that, despite what other reviewers claim, reflects very conventional values and mores. I can't complain too much about the structure of the story. It is akin to the British variety - there's a murder, a set of suspects, all of whom seem to have something to hide, and a detective who ping-pongs among them matching secrets to the subjects, and the one left over is the murderer. However, one gets the feeling that Chabrol never in his life read a detective novel or watched a police TV show or movie (or just couldn't be bothered with the pesky details) since he, through his characters, seems blissfully unaware that there might be a tradition of procedures for homicide investigation and evidence collection. Or maybe in France they just don't care about fingerprints or cataloging evidence for trial. The problem isn't that the inspector is immoral or amoral, but that he is uber-moral (forgive my neologism, if it is one); that is, he is presented as knowing what's best despite what's legal. Stories about cops taking the law into their own hands is nothing new. But Chabrol does the least with it by having the well-coiffed inspecteur uphold middle class values and condemn those who would prey on the young and the weak. Great, if you happen to be a 13 year old girl, but otherwise insipid.

As I said, I can't fathom the charm Chabrol and his leaky films have over reviewers. Give me a Holmes or Marlowe any day.

In Dinan, in the countryside of France, the Catholic writer Raoul Mons (Jacques Dacqmine) is having lunch with his wife Hélène Mons (Bernadette Lafont), his stepdaughter Véronique Manguin (Hermine Clair) and his brother-in-law Claude Alvarez (Jean-Claude Brialy), when residents of the nearby coastal town knock at his door to tell that a theater troupe will present a profane play. Raoul, who is a leader in the community, promises to take care of the case. On the next morning, Raoul is found murdered on the beach with the word "pig" written on his back. Inspector Jean Lavardin (Jean Poiret) arrives in town to help the investigation. When he arrives at Raoul's house, he sees Hélène, who was his passion twenty-years ago, and learns that her previous husband had also been murdered. He interviews the family and Hélène lodges him at home. He also interviews the cast of the play and discovers family secrets, including that Raoul and Hélène were estranged and did not have sex. He also discovers that Raoul was an habitué of the night-club owned by Max Charnet (Jean-Luc Bideau), who uses his political influence to sell drugs and allow minors in his club. Soon Inspector Lavardin learns dirty secrets and who killed Raoul Mons.

"Inspecteur Lavardin", a.k.a. "Inspector Lavardin" (1986), is a witty crime film by Claude Chabrol. The smart Inspector Lavardin comes to a coastal town to investigate a murder and finds many secrets including the killer of the prominent writer. But he also learns the character of the victim, the killer and the people involved in the case. His solution is not "politically correct" but resolves many problems at the same time. The society in Dinan will be certainly better off with the way Lavardin resolved the case. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Inspetor Lavardin" ("Inspector Lavardin")