Pour la peau d'un flic (1981)
Directed by Alain Delon

Film Review

One of the most iconic screen actors of the 1970s, Alain Delon turned his hand to directing in the 1980s, starting with this conventional action-packed policier in which he - not surprisingly - took the leading role.  Having previously starred in a dozen or so crime-thriller films, Delon would seem ideally placed to direct such a film - particularly when he had previously served under such distinguished masters of the genre as Jean-Pierre Melville, Jacques Deray and José Giovanni.   Delon the film director is not nearly as impressive as Delon the actor, but Pour la peau d'un flic is a respectable debut effort, and actually makes rather a good policier for its time.  Delon followed this with two other watchable thrillers: Le Choc (1982) and Le Battant (1983).

Starring alongside Delon in this film is the young Anne Parillaud, a decade before she would become a cult figure for her leading role in Luc Besson's thriller Nikita (1990).  Parillaud and Delon work together well, each bringing an unexpected self-deprecating sense of humour  -  a side which is rarely seen in Delon's films (presumably because his directors thought it might tarnish the tough Delon image).

Although the film is generally well structured, it does ultimately get a little tangled up in its exposition - a fault typical of many French thrillers of this époque, as screen writers attempted to be even more clever with their plots.  Fortunately, there are plenty of treats to keep the spectator of average intelligence engaged and entertained - a charismatic male lead, a sexy female sidekick, a spectacular nocturnal car chase and, of course, loads of gratuitous body pulverising violence.

Film Synopsis

Choucas gave up working as a regular cop some years ago and now he earns his crust as a private detective, assisted by his old friend Haymann.  His methods are not those that his erstwhile colleagues would approve of, but this is what gives him his edge over the police.  It is through one such colleague, Superintendent Coccioli, that he takes on the case of a missing blind girl.  What appears at first to be a straightforward kidnapping soon turns out to be something far more serious when the girl's elderly mother, Madame Pigot, is shot dead in front of Choucas before she can supply him with valuable information.

The detective is still trying to make sense of this bizarre turn of events when he starts receiving threats from an unknown aggressor.  He is then attacked by a police officer intent on murdering him.  To save himself, Choucas is forced to kill the aggressive cop, but he then finds himself charged with two murders.  As he goes on the run, the detective realises that if the police don't get him his real enemy - whoever that might be - almost certainly will.  The stakes are raised even higher when Choucas's secretary and mistress, Charlotte, is abducted.  The detective now finds he must risk his own skin to prevent an innocent woman from being the killers' next victim...