Toutes peines confondues (1992)
Directed by Michel Deville

Film Review

The central premise of the film - that the man investigating a serious crime should end up distrusting his superior as much as the villains - is an interesting one.  But, despite a fairly good performance from Patrick Bruel, the idea just doesn't seem to ring true.  From the first scene, Thurston immediately strikes us as a weirdo, and therefore probably not to be trusted.  Meanwhile, the villains remain villains, and pretty nasty ones at that, throughout.  Where is the moral dilemma that Inspector Vade faces?  Why doesn't he just duck out of the case after the first five minutes?  What keeps him involved?  The film is, however, very competently photographed.

Film Synopsis

When an elderly couple are found dead, murdered in their Alpine village, the attention of the police is immediately focussed on their son, Antoine Gardella.  Seemingly a respectable businessman, Gardella is in fact a ruthless gangster who is heavily involved in drugs trafficking and is known to have connections with the Mafia.  Christophe Vade, a French police inspector, is assigned by Interpol to inveigle his way into Gardella's sordid world and obtain evidence of criminal behaviour that will secure a conviction.  Thus begins a dangerous game of cat and mouse involving an unscrupulous career criminal and the young but resilient cop who is determined to expose him.

The incredibly wealthy Gardella presently lives in a splendid lakeside villa in Switzerland, with his son Thomas and second wife Jeanne.  His right-hand man Scandurat and bodyguard Roselli are also near to hand.  Gardella's attempts to distract Vade with Laura, his seductive financial adviser, fail to have the desired result.  The inspector is far more interested in Jeanne, a woman of mystery who turns out to be not what she seems.  Meanwhile, Vade's impetuous assistant Husquin gets himself into deep water when, on discovering that Gardella ordered the execution of his parents' murderers, resorts to an injudicious spot of blackmail...