Détective is a 1985 French crime film directed by Jean-Luc Godard. It was entered into the 1985 Cannes Film Festival. The film won the Georges Delerue Award for Best Soundtrack/Sound Design at Film Fest Gent in 1985.
Contents
Plot
In a room of a grand Paris hotel, two detectives are keeping watch. One is William, who used to be the hotel detective until he was fired after an unexplained death in that room. The other is his nephew Isidore, accompanied by his girlfriend Arielle. In a second room is Jim, a boxing promoter, accompanied by his boxer Tiger with his girlfriend Princesse. Jim is counting on a big win for Tiger, in order to repay his debt to a couple in a third room. These are Émile, a pilot whose business charters are losing money, and his wife Françoise. Émile is in urgent need of cash to avoid collapse and to give his wife a divorce. A fourth room has, with his entourage, an old mafioso who has turned up to collect old debts, including some from Jim.
While Émile is busy flying, Françoise starts an affair with Jim, who gives her money for new clothes, and the two agree to pair up if both get the payoff they are expecting. The upcoming fight melts away when Tiger disappears with Princesse, leaving Jim just her jewels. Émile, when Françoise says she will leave him for Jim, shoots Jim dead. Attempting to retaliate, Isidore accidentally shoots William dead. Émile takes the old mafioso's granddaughter hostage and is shot dead by the "family".
Cast
Claude Brasseur as Émile Chenal
Nathalie Baye as Françoise Chenal
Johnny Hallyday as Jim Fox Warner
Laurent Terzieff as William Prospero
Jean-Pierre Léaud as Isidore
Alain Cuny as Old Mafioso
Emmanuelle Seigner as Princesse
Julie Delpy as Young Girl
Aurelle Doazan as Arielle
Stéphane Ferrara as Tiger Jones
Production
About her nude scenes in this movie, Emmanuelle Seigner recalled that, "The first day Godard asked me to take off my bra, the second the panties. So I protested: 'Who did you take me for?' Finally Godard said: 'Keep your panties'. I was 17, I had no desire to appear naked in a movie."
Reception
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 92% based on 12 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10.