Film: Polisse

This powerful French drama follows the activities of the Paris CPU (Child Protection Unit).

By cleverly avoiding dwelling on the harrowing cases that the police officers deal with and concentrating more on their own lives and relationships Polisse is a more entertaining experience than I expected.

The team often socialise together, especially after resolving difficult cases, and this leads to relationships forming. There are marriage break-ups, custody issues, mental illness and rivalry to deal with.

The cases on show are based on real-life incidents and many of them are too despicable to mention but they do include rape, paedophilia, child slavery and suicide.

French cinema often has the guts to tackle things head-on, Irreversible springs to mind, it has also given us my all-time favourite film, Brotherhood Of The Wolf.

This isn’t quite up there with those two but it’s a satisfying, if often uncomfortable, viewing experience that will appeal to fans of hard-hitting drama.

Polisse is available on DVD in the UK now.

Ric’s Rating: Highly Recommended.