Police is a 1985 French drama film directed by Maurice Pialat, starring Gérard Depardieu, Sophie Marceau, Richard Anconina and Sandrine Bonnaire.
Mangin (Depardieu), a police inspector, investigates a case of drug trafficking. He arrests Simon, a drug trafficker, and his girlfriend Noria (Marceau). Soon Noria is freed. Mangin meets her and falls in love with her.
Police provides examples of:
- Bad Guy Bar: The bar owned by René is the headquarter of a drug ring.
- Da Chief: He shows up when Mangin has broken the nose of a perp to tell him that he does not like that.
- Did Not Get the Girl: Mangin breaks up with Noria in the end.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: A guy who cut the finger of an old woman has a tattoo which reminds him to think of his daughter. Mangin asks him if he was thinking of his daughter when he cut the finger.
- Fair Cop: Marie Vedret (Pascale Rocard), the trainee superintendent. Several people notice that she is beautiful. For example, a cop tells her that he would like to be a perp to be questioned by her.
- Fingore: A criminal cuts the finger of an old woman to steal from her.
- Good Cop/Bad Cop: When he questions Noria, Mangin is the good cop. Then he let a colleague act as the bad cop.
- Love Dodecahedron: Mangin sleeps with Lydie. He unsuccessfully tries to charm a trainee police superintendent. Finally he falls in love with Noria. Noria is Simon's girlfriend. When he is in prison, she sleeps with Lambert, then with Mangin. Lydie is a prostitute. She is in a relationship with her pimp. Both Lambert and Mangin are attracted to her and try to protect her.
- Femme Fatale: Noria. She is attractive. She charms her lawyer, Lambert, and Mangin, a police inspector. She steals the money of the drug ring and she lies to Mangin when he asks her whether she has the money.
- New Meat: There is a trainee police superintendent who works with Mangin. She tries to control a vehicle alone and the driver reacts violently. Mangin arrives and tells her to go away with him.
- "Not So Different" Remark: At some point, Mangin tells Noria that policemen and yobs are the same kind of people.
- The Oldest Profession: Lydie is a prostitute.
- Police Brutality: The policemen are quite brutal when they question suspects. In particular, Mangin slams the head of one (the guy who cut the old woman's finger) on the table, so that his nose is bleeding.
- Police Procedural: The film tries to depict the job of the police. The scenario is based on interviews of real policemen and criminals.
- Perp Sweating: There are several questioning scenes (the questioned people include: Claude, Noria, Simon, Nez Cassé, René).
- The Stool Pigeon: Claude rats Simon and his brothers out. He was caught with a gun and Mangin tells him that he will not carry out a ballistic analysis if he denounces them.
