Police

In Paris, a hard nosed police inspector named Mangin puts pressure on informants to build a drug case against three Tunisian brothers. He corners one dealer, Simon, and grabs his girlfriend Noria as part of the arrest. When Simon turns to his lawyer, the man frees Noria, who promptly disappears with a fortune belonging to the traffickers. The Tunisian gang press their own threats, and the lawyer stakes his life while Noria threatens everyone around her. Mangin is volatile and brutal with suspects yet capable of tenderness, drawn to a trainee at the department and later to Noria. The film follows loyalty, desire, and the murky line between justice and coercion. The pressure mounts from every side for all involved.

Directed by Maurice Pialat, the 1985 French drama Police adapts material from a script by Fieschi and Breillat, with a renowned cast led by Gérard Depardieu and Sophie Marceau. It marks a stark, improvisation driven take on crime and power.

Box office figures for Police are not widely published; the film had a relatively modest release beyond France and did not become a major international blockbuster. It remains best known to cinephiles and festival audiences rather than mass audiences today.

The film is often noted for its unflinching portrayal of police pressure, a theme that resonated in French cinema of the era. Depardieu and Marceau deliver raw, unsettled performances that linger in viewers' minds, helping set a template for morally equivocal cops and complicated romantic entanglements on screen. Today too.

Critics generally praised its intensity and Pialat's confrontational style, though some found the pace taxing. The film probes power and desire, showing how police methods collide with personal longing and justice. It also highlights Parisian class and immigration tensions, giving the crime story social depth and grit for many viewers.