Inspector Lavardin is induced to investigate the murder of a province's notable who was taking himself as the moral guardian of his village. The perspective of the inquiry changes when the inspector recognizes the widow as one of his youthful loves.
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 of extracting the truth from witnesses and suspects, can only serve to undermine his position as the good guy in any subsequent film.
Please contact Prakash Reddy of the Hyderabad Film Club at 373-0841 or 373-0265 for further details.
French/1986/100min
Director: Claude Chabrol
Starring: Jean Poiret, Jean-Claude Brialy, Bernadette LaFont, Jean-Luc Bideau, Jacques Dacqmine, Hermine Clair
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