Enquête sur un scandale d'État (2021 film)

Enquête sur un scandale d'État (Investigation into a state scandal), is a French crime thriller that was released to film festivals in 2021 and to wider audiences in February 2022.[1][2][3] In Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom it was released as "Undercover".[1]

It is directed by Thierry de Peretti [Fr] from his own screenplay (co-written with Jeanne Aptekman),[1][4] and although it is a work of fiction, it is inspired by the real life case of François Thierry, and the book L'Infiltré (The Informant), written by Hubert Avoine and Emmanuel Fansten.[1][2][3][5]

It stars Pio Marmaï, as Stéphane Vilner, the journalist who writes the story of Hubert Antoine (played by Roschdy Zem), the whistle-blower who breaks the story of illegal activity by the head of the Narcotics Unit, Jacques Billard, played by Vincent Lindon.[1] The question driving the journalist and his colleagues at Liberation is, "how far should the state go to try to break the illegal drugs trade?" [5]

Filming

edit

Peretti chose to film in 1.33 format, which is sometimes referred to as a square format, but which Peretti refers to as "reportage".[3]

Reception

edit

The film was premiered at the San Sebastian film competition.[1] At the competition, Claire Mathon won the prize for best cinematography for her work on the film.[6] At the 2023 César awards it was nominated for the award for best adapted work.[4][7]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e f Lodge, Guy (26 September 2021). "'Undercover' Review: Journalists and Narcs Do Battle in a Solidly Gripping, Fact-Based French Procedural". Variety. Retrieved 2024-08-02.
  2. ^ a b Macheret, Mathieu (16 November 2021). "« Enquête sur un scandale d'Etat », sur Canal+ : un polar paranoïaque autour des révélations d'un infiltré". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  3. ^ a b c Bornet, Jacky (8 February 2022). "Entre fiction et documentaire, "Enquête sur un scandale d'Etat" interroge sur les dérives de la lutte anti-drogue en France". Franceinfo (in French). Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Enquête sur un scandale d'État". Académie des César (in French). Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  5. ^ a b Kaufmann, Ève (8 August 2021). "L'histoire vraie hallucinante à l'origine du film « Enquête sur un scandale d'État »". Vanity Fair (in French). Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  6. ^ Team, The Deadline (2021-09-26). "Jessica Chastain, 'Blue Moon' Among Top Winners At San Sebastian Film Festival". Deadline. Retrieved 2024-08-07.
  7. ^ "César 2023 : "L'Innocent" et "La Nuit du 12" en tête des nominations". www.telerama.fr (in French). 25 January 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2024.