L.627 (1992) User Reviews

What Would Vic Mackey Do?

[film-critic · 7/10 · 5 December 2008]

If one were to ever question where we, as American audiences, get our prime-time television ideas, it should never be considered original, or genius, or groundbreaking – it should be simply coined, "borrowed". As we see popularity with such shows as "The Office" or the most recent "Life on Mars", we seem to be gobbling up popular programs from across the pond at the speed of light, and oddly more and more seem to feel less authentic. Sure, the actual conversations and dynamic dilemmas that occur each episode my be home-grown, but the idea – it is the original idea that should be coveted. It would be equal to saying that you love DSL without ever experiencing dial-up – how can you compare? Recently, I was able to scrounge around and discover a VHS that may, upon first viewing, seem like a hodgepodge of police interferences within the confines of Paris, but look deeper. Does our heroine, a tough, never by the book-paper pushing detective whom isn't afraid to corrupt the system to get results, a cop who isn't afraid to have a wife, but also a prostitute informant on the side? Wouldn't you agree that perhaps I am explaining the life of Vic Mackey from "The Shield"? Yet, I am not – I am talking about Lulu, our Parisian officer in the outstanding "L.627".

Lost within the conversion from VHS to DVD, this obscure title has not seen the light of day for a long time; in fact, you could probably find this at a yard sale for less than a dollar. If this is ever the case, pick it up and buy it – it is worth viewing at least once to demonstrate the raw grittiness of police work. It has never been a colorful position, despite the humorous depiction in "Police Academy", and director Bertrand Tavernier knows how to push the envelope to such an extent that our fictional officer's cause affects the reason. They want drug off the streets, Lulu is constantly pushing his girlfriend to stop using drugs, but the means are not readily available. With broken police vehicles, pranksters instead of officers, lacking budget with technology, Lulu and Company are forced to take measures into their own hands. They fight crime, perhaps not the way the officer handbook suggests, but they fight crime. One scene that specifically stands out is one where Lulu is about to bust a dealer/supplier in a nearby park, he uses a nearby school to ensure that they are able to see the transaction take place. They are able to find an empty room, but the principal doesn't want them in the school – contradictory to the ideals that schools want drugs off the street. There was this sense of animosity between person and officer – as if the principal didn't believe that our officers would actually do anything of value. This was a small, yet shocking scene that defines Tavernier's central theme.

Does Lulu get the drugs off the streets? Does he finally get the funding that he wants? Does his personally life collide with his cop life? These are all questions that Tavernier answers with small, seemingly insignificant scenes. There is a perfect ending scene that resonates within my mind between Lulu and his prostitute sideline. It demonstrates the quality of Lulu's work, and summarizes this film in a small 10-minute scene. That seems to be Tavernier's trademark with this film. A full range of quality small scenes that tie our characters together. Individually, this is a rather bland film – difficult to begin and even longer to finish with nearly 2 ½ hours of play time, but intertwined, these scenes speak about the Parisian police force. "L.627" is a film that resonates within the mind. Oddly, I recently finished watching "La Haine" for the first time, and could argue that this is Tavernier's counter-discussion. Here, he shows why there may be police racism, why the law uses brutality, and why frustration between officers reigns supreme. Kassovitz's film gives us the counter-point, the view from the poverty on the streets.

Overall, does "L.627" demand repeat viewing? Is it wronged not to have a DVD release? These are all important questions, but the answer is not readily available. "L.627" demonstrates powerful acting, documentary-esquire camera work, and a chilling theme, but the honesty lies within Tavernier's storytelling. While Lulu is our central character, this isn't a story about him. We don't have an emotional roller-coaster of a film where our hero redeems himself at the end. This isn't a Hollywood movie. In "L.627" social commentary is king, and we, as outsiders looking in, must just absorb the honest nature of the film. It is a tale of good corruption, hard working individuals, and the hardships of control. This will not be a film for everyone, but those privy enough to catch a viewing of this film will be impressed by every element of this film. From the filming to the unequivocal truths, "L.627" is a film to absorb. I am just sorry that I didn't see this film sooner.

Always remember, instead of WWVMD? (aka What Would Vic Mackey Do?) – try thinking of WWLD? (aka What Would Lulu Do?).

Grade: **** out of *****

Brigade des stup'

[bob998 · 8/10 · 13 October 2006]

TFO is running a series of Bertrand Tavernier's films; L. 627 is just another example of this man's bewildering versatility--costume epics, science fiction, exotic noir, gritty slice-of-life pictures. Here we have police procedure with a more despairing tone than Hollywood has ever given us. The light cynicism of the French Connection has become a cry of despair over police corruption and bureaucratic nonsense. The only problem: at 145 minutes, it's far too long, since there is no plot the viewer can hang on to, just a series of vignettes.

The actors are great: Lara Guirao impresses as the HIV-positive hooker whom Lulu is attracted to, but can't have sex with. Philippe Torreton is his usual frightening self as Lulu's partner, while Jean-Paul Comart is the boss from hell: irresponsible (tear gas in the coin toilet), concerned only with filling quotas. Dodo leads the squad into a squalid room with two African women and a baby, the resulting foul-up has to be seen to be believed. Didier Bezace wise-cracks his way through the chaos, showing us some of his pain.

A really eye opener

[adrean-819-339098 · 8/10 · 17 August 2010]

This film was a relentless eye opener to a seedy world which we do not want to believe is true but unfortunately as in the case of Paris it has only gotten worse.

What makes the film work? Well I think it works because of the broken up and choppy style between scenes. We do not move from scene 1 to 2 to 3 until eventually we come to a happy conclusion, instead we are moved here and there not ultimately leading us to a big bust or the worst bad guy, but simply the guys the police have to deal with on a daily basis. At least for me these small time crimes are reflective of real police work, we are not chasing some super intelligent sicko serial killer here, it's not CSI, Bones, or any of those silly shows.

In a perfect world the police would have the resources and power to stop illegal acts, but the police force like any large government institution becomes bogged down and convoluted under it's own weight. Imagine writing off to the stationery department to get a stapler if you were a cop, this would invariably happen. And at least Tavernier can show us the unglorious truth in it's ridiculous splendour.

There is also no black and white areas here. The police give junkies drugs for information. They use some tough methods with the criminals. They're methods are often made up on the spot and often things go horribly wrong.

I cannot recommend this film enough. I picked it up on the off chance and I was not at all disappointed.

This is as good as cop-films get

[gray4 · 9/10 · 3 May 2004]

Tavernier's examination of the Paris police's losing battle against the drug-dealers was reportedly inspired by the experience of his son's addiction. It is an angry, despairing film. Early on the central character says that "all drug-dealers are terrorists" and later the police chief says that "my son is 13. He will have already met his first dealer".

This is a documentary-style examination from the front-line, where the police are demoralised, under-resourced, corrupt and incompetent. The 'hero', Lulu, (an outstanding performance by Didier Bezace) is a maverick detective who gets transferred to desk duties when he is angered by his drunken boss demanding the return of the unit's van in the middle of a stakeout - so he can go home! After struggling with the police station's incompetent bureaucracy, Lulu is placed in a new anti-drugs unit, led by practical joker Dodo, concerned only with filling in forms and meeting the Ministry's statistical targets.

The whole film rings true, right down to the tedious form-filling using old typewriters and stolen carbon-paper. There is no real plot, as the unit stumbles from disaster to disaster, but rather a series of incidents punctuated by much eating and drinking. As if to contrast with the chaos of the police unit, the film is shot calmly and lucidly by Tavernier. By the end of the film you have become involved with the characters and want to know more about their bleak futures. A wonderful film, and as good a portrait of policing (at its worst) as you will see.

personalities clash in war on drugs

[RanchoTuVu · 8/10 · 8 February 2007]

A police investigator specializes in busting as many narcotics dealers as he can, but aside from the sad fact that drugs seem to have permanently permeated society, his sincere efforts are often undermined by his own department superiors. Both aspects are very well dramatized. As well, he faces the problem in a more personal way because of his ambiguous relationship with a heroin addict prostitute. At one point his best street informant is exposed by one of the officers in his own police unit, who declares that "you can always find another one". Laying the groundwork, going from stakeout to stakeout and from slum to slum, the film has a gritty authenticity and the main character played by Didier Bezace makes a unique cop who actually believes in what he's doing.

excellent movie

[mathieu.perrin · 10/10 · 8 December 1999]

The story is about policemen who work in a "commissariat" in Paris, France. They have to do their job everyday, running after little robbers or little drug dealers... The movie is very far from police stories we can see everyday in others movies, with great detectives, mafias... In fact, Bertrand Tavernier, with the help of an ancient policeman for the scenario, tries to catch policemen every day work, with their little problems with the hierarchy... I think this movie is the most "real" about police problems in France.

A Very Honest Film

[Rodrigo_Amaro · 9/10 · 14 June 2013]

"L-627" touches on an issue explored several times in many films and TV series, which is the problems faced by police forces while dealing with the organized crime, yet it looks like something never seen before. While many of those films that dealt with the theme always feel the need to show some piece of the action (or just become it rather than make its denounce) this movie seems more concerned in just following the many pieces of a failed mechanism, the bureaucracy that doesn't allow those honest, hard workers and badly paid people to do their job with efficiency. It's a system so failed and broken that the only way for these law men act is to use of brutality, wrong doings and corruption as way to survive, stay alive or fulfill the law the "best" way they can.

Miles away from being the usual thriller/action flick, "L-627" is a realistic closer look at the day-to-day of a police team and their methods to bring down an important drug dealer. Most of the time is occupied by arresting couriers, minor bandits acquaintance of those bigger ones, and lots and lots of paperwork, stakeouts and beating of suspects. The main character, Lulu, is an inspector (Didier Bezace) transfered to another team after a misunderstanding with his superior. Things were supposed to look worse than it was but no, it looks the same to him, slightly better. He still needs to deal with lazy and irresponsible co-workers, more concerned about playing pranks at each other or acting in the wrong time instead of following the rules. To make things more complicated he has to deal with personal matter such as his occasional lover, a prostitute with many problems of her own; and also deal with his ex-wife, lives already torn apart due to his commitment with his career in the force.

Although there's some lack of a chief figure around their team, the pressure is present at all times. It is soaked in their bones and it follows them through the every operation, every missed chance. At a certain point, while improvising a stakeout inside of a school, you feel like supporting these characters in their arrest of a suspect even though the cops were rude and careless about what the headmaster is saying to them. It's the only way they can work, they don't have other ways. It's not by the book but in the end it was the right thing to do. And the saddest part is that most of their effort goes to waste when the judicial system sets free many of the people they detained, because of lack of proof, crooks who have money to pay for their bails, and things like that. Yet, the inspector needs to show results, chase, run, escape from bullets and eminent danger to make those arrests...

This truly looks as a real movie about real police stations out there around the world. It's quite a shock that even in a great developed country like France you would see such a thing happening. It's a work of fiction but of course they were looking at real examples. I couldn't leave behind "Elit Squad" and its sequel. Those movies, made years later and based on biographical accounts that took place in Brazil, are very similar in its story treatment and criticism about the police system. The difference is that in "Squad" you have a certain detachment because it tries to be the generic and exaggerated action film, filled with stars, and very didactic with an overexposed voice-over from the main character (already a classic in here) while "L-627" is almost like a documentary with relatively unknown actors, and all centered in the few perks of the job - pay attention to the many humored moments they have as a group - and its countless disadvantages. Bertrand Tavernier got perfectly right with the casting, allowing the audience to be there with the characters rather than following a main star doing all the action. All the performances are terrific, but the highlight goes to Mr. Bezace, who plays this anti-hero/common man easy for us to relate with, even in his hardest moments, completely out of control. Yet he loves all that stress and the pressure that comes with all the obstacles present in its work. Tavernier's view on the problems faced by police corporations is relatively the same and present everywhere, that's why it's relevant (even now) to watch a movie like this. You get a wider understanding on why being in such line of work is ungrateful, and very tempting that good professionals may succumb to addictions, corruption, or abusing of their authority.

I only object to a certain slowness from the plot, staggering really bad sometimes, and the fact of having two extremely similar guys acting on the same team. There's an actor, also playing a policeman, who looked exactly like Lulu and it was very confusing to set them apart from one another. Other than those rubbish complaints, "L-627" is a powerful movie with a great statement to make. 9/10

Look After Lulu

[writers_reign · 9/10 · 12 March 2006]

It's unfortunate that at first glance the leading character Lulu (Didier Bezace) looks like someone wearing a Groucho Marx mask in order to rob a bank but once you realize that that's how Bezace actually LOOKS you can settle down to enjoy what is essentially a lightly fictionalized documentary chronicling the uphill struggle of a Parisian narcotics squad who can do little more than shovel sand against the tide. Tavernier recently spoke about the backlash against this film on its release at a Masterclass he gave in London during which he said that the very police who had condemned him in public later came to him in private and told him they had been coerced by their superiors into attacking the film whilst actually in watching it they felt as if they had done two hours of overtime. That is, of course, a fine testimony but it doesn't necessarily mean that the non-professional viewer will echo it. As it happens it IS a very entertaining and involving movie that shows just how frustrating police work can be in a modern society. Lacking a real storyline it builds its effects by portraying the routine, form-filling, small triumphs, large disappointments. Another great film from a great filmmaker.

Way ahead of its time

[tony_le_stephanois · 5 June 2015]

I remember vividly watching the film in 1996. It had a recommendation (as it says on the poster): 'Just as gritty as Reservoir Dogs'. We were disappointed. This wasn't Reservoir Dogs at all!

How wrong was I. Twenty years later there are a lot of documentary-like series about the lives of cops, for example Engranages. Well, L627 is EXACTLY as these TV series, but twenty years earlier. The cops from L627 and Engranages both work in the underbelly of Paris, where tourists won't come. We see the REAL lives of cops. Eating together, joking together, doing undercover operations together, shouting at each other, visiting squats. These are not the overly cool cops from other films, these are real people dealing with fears and tensions. The only thing from the series that is missing here, are judges and lawyers.

The thing that stands out, is how all kinds of stories are intertwined, just like in real life (and just like in Engranages), without leading towards a 'bad guy' to catch, as crime flicks usually do. It's about an hopeless fight against the drugs trade, without the proper resources. Suddenly you realize how much improvisation and intelligence this job needs. A job in which you even have to negotiate with a school director about using a classroom for a lookout, you can't have a decent car and have to pay your own camera when you want to film something.

No wonder it has been written by Tavernier together with a drug squad detective. With its two hours runtime L627 is almost as a mini TV series in itself. And just like Engranages and The Wire it boasts not only realism, but also terrific acting by a largely unknown cast. As in these series they have a wonderful chemistry together – for example when they are joking with each other. There's even one running joke… In the midst of all this is Lulu. He is only loosely the protagonist – as was Laure in Engranages (who has many similarities with the character of Marie in this film, by the way).

It isn't a pretty film, it has not really a cinematic feeling you are used to. But it is ahead of its time as many films nowadays are aiming at documentary-like realism. Therefore it demands a lot of attention and concentration in the beginning and it might be difficult to get into. It is certainly NOT the kind of film teenagers would like to see, I can say from my own experience.

Gritty, realistic film on a cop with a mission and a heart--made by a director, who dedicates it to his real life son who is also a filmmaker

[JuguAbraham · 8/10 · 18 October 2021]

A gritty, realistic film on a cop with mission to get drug peddlers off the streets. Stylistically, it is a mix of Pialat's lovely film "Police" and Friedkin's "The French Connection"--only more realistic than both. Two actors--Didier Bezace (the lead mustached cop Lulu) and Lara Guirao (Lulu's friend Cecile --a beautiful hooker. Informant, with HIV, and drug addict who has a platonic relationship with Lulu) are wonderful characters. Tavernier dedicates the film to his son Nils. The film also underscores the lack of facilities for hardworking cops from the government. They file reports when the carbon paper for typed out reports are in short supply and they are short of vehicles. Yet, the cops keep going. The film is co-scripted by Tavernier and is an original screenplay of the director and. Michel Alexandre.

A masterpiece balancing between realism, drama and desperate humour

[norbert-plan-618-715813 · 10/10 · 8 May 2022]

Superb cast of characters who evolve in the French police (drug squad, then life in a police station, then back to the drug squad) of the nineties where the lack of means is obvious, where doing one's job seems ubiquitous.

A story full of lives, dramas, hardships, led by Didier Bezace, a policeman with a highly developed network of informants who cannot do his job without his informants. The line between the police and the lawless is sometimes very thin. Bertrand Tavernier shows at the same time the humanity of the policemen, the humanity of their "clients", and of their informers. He points out the absurdity of a system that lacks resources and the absence of objectives for the teams (or else ridiculous objectives).

The cast is great. The characters are well written: the script manages to give them substance and characterize them very quickly. The film is exciting by its permanent balance between realism, drama and desperate humor. A masterpiece.

Excellent, Immersive Film Showing Daily Work of Narcs

[mackjay2 · 9/10 · 25 October 2021]

Totally engaging look at the life of Paris narc. Tavernier's mastery of detail, creating a sense of real people doing real jobs (and the feeling they've worked together for years) pull you right in and don't let go. Didier Bezace as "Lulu" (short for Lucien), a classic 'not by the book' cop who is in trouble from the word 'go', as he finds himself demoted to a desk job, processing petty crimes. It's not long at all before he's back on his real job, dealing with suppliers and their contacts. Some scenes are harrowing--one in particular, when they raid a home with women and children inside, is devastating. Lulu is committed to the job in the best way, even if he breaks the rules, but some of his colleagues range from layabouts to jokers (literally, in one case). There is also a young prostitute whom Lulu tries to reform and protect, as well as his fiancée who doesn't add much to the plot. As one of the colleagues is Phiippe Torreton, who will give a savage portrayal as Captain Conan for Tavernier four years later. This is one of the most immersive crime films ever made. It doesn't let up, not even in several scenes meant to reveal character but that don't further the story. We're shown what life is like for Lulu and his cohort. It all feels incredibly real.