IMDb RATING
6.9/10
2.6K
YOUR RATING
A rookie policeman from provincial Le Havre volunteers for the high pressure Parisian homicide bureau and is assigned to a middle-aged woman detective.A rookie policeman from provincial Le Havre volunteers for the high pressure Parisian homicide bureau and is assigned to a middle-aged woman detective.A rookie policeman from provincial Le Havre volunteers for the high pressure Parisian homicide bureau and is assigned to a middle-aged woman detective.
- Awards
- 5 wins & 8 nominations
Yaniss Lespert
- Alex Derouère, le frère d'Antoine
- (as Yanis Lespert)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaXavier Beauvois, the director, decided finally not to use background music for this movie. It gives a special atmosphere to the movie.
- GoofsReflected in window as Vaudieu and Solo exit the church.
- Quotes
Mireille, la logeuse: [after Antoine introduces himself as Lieutenant Derouère] These days, it's "Lieutenant" and "Captain." It's too much like the Army. Not that I don't like the Army, but "Monsieur l'Inspecteur"... It makes me think of Maigret...
- ConnectionsReferenced in The Mozart of Pickpockets (2006)
Featured review
rich character studies in the form of police procedural
This movie starts out looking like a fairly conventional police procedural and ends up something much richer and subtler. It's full of nice little surprises that subvert our expectations of this sort of movie as we've come to know it from the Hollywood model. In fact, it's a wonderful example of how the American model can be molded into something more complicated. One example of that is the relationship between the "little lieutenant" and his attractive, middle-aged alcoholic supervisor. It's largely a filial-maternal relationship, but with subtle erotic undertones that keep us guessing at what might (or might not) develop between the two characters. In fact, little about the plot or the characters turn out the way you expect, and that's a fine thing. The movie also has a script written with exceptional skill and economy. We see only one scene between the lieutenant and his wife, and we hear a few additional comments about his marriage in other scenes, but from these brief bits we get a picture of a complex and problematic relationship that tells us as much as we need to know about the couple. While nothing about this movie is flashy, I haven't been able to get it out of my mind since I saw it earlier this week. It's thought provoking and I recommend it highly.
helpful•190
- jim-314
- May 9, 2007
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Le petit lieutenant
- Filming locations
- 118 Rue des Pyrénées, Paris 20, Paris, France(shelter where Antoine gets stabbed)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $216,724
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $16,871
- Sep 10, 2006
- Gross worldwide
- $3,984,265
- Runtime1 hour 50 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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