Protests in the heart of Paris are rife. We are talking 2018. Society is on the precipice and people are struggling, so they pour their anger and dissatisfaction into verbal and violent demonstrations. Many are from the regions – first time protestors, families even, some who haven’t had cause to come to Paris before.
Police numbers have been doubled to cope with the increasingly aggressive situation that confronts them on the streets. Officers have been pulled from other divisions to handle the escalation of the unrest. But, of course, police are at all times expected to handle the situation with suitable restraint.
Against this background, you have the secretive IGPN, an internal affairs division of the cops investigating behaviour that potentially crosses the line. The police union hates them for not backing their own. One of the dour and diligent inspectors is 20-year veteran Stéphanie Bertrand (Léa Drucker), who has crossed over from narcotics.
She was married to another officer, Jérémy (Stanislas Merha), whose latest girlfriend, Noélie (Antonia Buresi) is also in the force. Neither Jérémy nor Noélie are enamoured with the work Stéphanie is now doing and they are not afraid to say so. Stéphanie and Jérémy also share an intelligent teenage son, Victor (Solàn Machado-Graner), who asks why everyone hates the police.
The IGPN is stretched because of the number of cases on its plate. Stéphanie’s latest is known as Case 137. It starts with an incident reported by 48-year-old Joëlle Girard (Sandra Colombo). Her 20-year-old apprentice electrician son, Girard (Côme Péronnet) suffered a catastrophic brain injury in one of the violent protests.
They had travelled as a family from Saint-Dizier, 250 kilometres away, to demonstrate for public services. Girard, along with Joëlle’s daughter’s boyfriend Rémi Cordier (Valentine Campagne) had become separated from the group when Girard was hit in the head by a riot gun bullet. Allegedly fired by a member of the police force, it is Stéphanie’s job to get to the bottom of what happened.
She faces considerable obstacles in her quest for the truth and for charges to be laid against the person or persons responsible. Using incendiary still and video imagery to sheet home the impact of the rioting, Case 137 (the film) has an urgency about it. The counterpoint to the visuals is the methodical, at times laborious, work of Stéphanie and her colleagues.
While the story is fictional, it is based on several real cases, all dating from the same period. Co-writer (with Gilles Marchand) and director Dominik Moll puts it well when he says at the time there was a major divide between Paris and the rest of the country. The feeling of abandonment was rife in regional France, as were the glaring inequalities. He wanted to emphasise the internal and external strains prevailing then and has succeeded to doing just that.
The extreme tension in the film is palpable. The population is on edge. Police resources are stretched. Mind you, there are those that appear to be a law unto themselves. I was most impressed by Drucker’s steel hardened characterisation when Stéphanie was on duty (her poker face) that carried the picture. Her momentum and frustration are the driving force and enable the film to reach the heights that it does.
There is a lot to it. There are complexities aplenty and with them, twists, and who says justice is done or be seen to be done? The situation presented is messy and there is no off the shell solution and that is just what gives Case 137 bite. Rated M, it scores an 8 out of 10.
Alex First
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Alex First is the editor of The Blurb. Alex is a Melbourne based journalist and communications specialist. He also contributes to The Blurb on film and theatre.