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Your typical French small town: Louis Cuno (Lucas Belvaux) and his possessive wheelchair-bound mother (Stéphane Audran) are bullied by the three richest men in town, Lavoisier (Michel Bouquet), Moraseau (Jean Topart) and Filiol (Jean-Claude Bouillaud), wannabe land developers who desparately want the Cunos to sell their house for their own profits - but Louis and mum simply have no interest in selling. But not only that, they suspect the town's money to conspire against them, so they intercept their mail, spy on them, and try to dig up dirt. And Louis frequently keys their cars and plays little pranks on them - until one such prank kills Filiol. Soon after that, Morasseau's wife (Josephine Chaplin) dies in a car accident, while another woman (Caroline Cellier) involved with the local bigshots disappears without a trace. A detective, inspector Lavardin (Jean Poiret) arrives in town, and he's quick to figure Filiol's death was Louis' fault - but goes somewhat easy on him, figuring there's something bigger at play. And with very unconventional - and often unlawful - methods, he by and by uncovers more and more skeletons in the town's collective closet ...

Director Claude Chabrol was always best when he made thrillers and/or murder mysteries that served as a thin veil for social commentary, pulling back the curtain to show the dark sides of bourgeoisie - and that's certainly true with Cop Au Vin, a film that works as both an unconventional murder mystery and bitter satire, carried by a witty script, a stylish yet subtle enough directorial effort, and a first rate cast, with Jean Poiret in what's basically only a secondary role (despite top billing) deserving special mention - no wonder his character has been spun off into another movie - Inspector Lavardin - and a TV series - Les Dossiers Secrets de l'Inspecteur Lavardin.

Strongly recommended.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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