Influenced by Jean-Pierre Melville and the thrillers of Michael Mann, Olivier Marchal, a former police officer, revisits the film noir tradition with this adaptation of a true story. Léo Vrinks (Daniel Auteuil), in charge of the anti-gang squad, and Denis Klein (Gérard Depardieu), head of the organised crime unit, work together to arrest a violent gang of armoured truck robbers, while competing to replace Robert Mancini (André Dussollier), the retiring chief of police. Marchal left the force to become a film-maker, while the man whose exploits inspired the film, Dominique Loiseau, also collaborated on the script. Stylish, and relentlessly moody the film benefits from ace scripting, intriguing motivations and excellent performances. The title address is Paris’ answer to Scotland Yard, as immortalised in Henri-Georges Clouzot’s 1947 Quai des Orfèvres, a nod to France’s policier heritage. Drawing heavily on actual events of the mid-1980s, Marchal has fashioned a narrative that, with its bloody shootouts and heartbreaking betrayals, depicts police work as a risky profession in which loyalty and experience can sometimes, though not always, trump bad luck. This thriller became one of France’s biggest box-office hits of last year. Year of Release in the UK: 2006