Vidocq

Paris in the 1830s glows with gaslight as a renowned detective vanishes while pursuing a dreaded alchemist. Vidocq disappears after a perilous confrontation, leaving his legend and a trail of riddles behind. His eager young biographer, Etienne Boisset, steps in to finish what the master started, plunging into a maze of conspiracies and coded symbols in a city that seems to bend reality. As Boisset digs deeper, he encounters crimes steeped in alchemy and a masquerade of power that reaches beyond ordinary police methods. The investigation sweeps through taverns, laboratories, and shadowed alleys where science, superstition, and desire blur, setting the stage for a dangerous pursuit. The chase tests Boisset and the city alike as illusions threaten to swallow truth.

Directed by Pitof, Vidocq reimagines the legendary detective as a surreal mythic crime thriller. The screenplay comes from Pitof with Grangé, and Gérard Depardieu stars as Vidocq alongside Guillaume Canet and Ines Sastre, and the film features production design.

Worldwide, the film grossed about 13.24 million dollars, a modest result for a French fantasy crime thriller with heavy production design and special effects. It found its audience in France and select international markets that enjoy atmospheric period fantasies.

Visually Vidocq stands out for blending dark noir with ornate alchemy set pieces and futuristic touches, a look that lingered in interviews and retrospectives of early 2000s European fantasy cinema. Fans remember its luminous costumes and otherworldly cityscapes.

Critics were divided on Vidocq, praising its ambition and mood while noting that the narrative sometimes struggles under its own visual noise. The film explores obsession and the cost of chasing legends, asking how myth can distort reality and how memory shapes identity. It also probes the tension between scientific method and myth making, asking whether truth is best served by clarity or by dream like ambiguity.