Seine with one routine – Newspaper Kommersant No. 233 (7434) of 12/15/2022

Dominique Moll’s film La nuit du 12 is released, which premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Without deceiving the audience with the promise of a happy ending, the director, according to Julia Shagelman, presented a compelling example of how violence destroys the lives of not only the immediate victim, but of all those who are even remotely touched.

Late in the evening of October 12, 2016, the criminal police department of the city of Grenoble celebrates the retirement of the former chief (Nicolas Jouet). Everything is as usual at such parties: stupid jokes, awkward toasts, a friendly cartoon in a frame as a gift. Shedding tears under the mocking remarks of his subordinates, who, of course, mask their own emotion in this way, the boss introduces a new captain – young Johan Vives (Bastien Bouillon), who is not inclined to long speeches, a lover of order both in business and in relations between employees.

That same night, in a small town nearby, squeezed on all sides by the Alps, 21-year-old Clara (Lula Cotton-Frappier) is going home after an evening visiting a friend (Pauline Seriller). She persuades her to stay the night, but the girl refuses, and this petty, inconspicuous decision, similar to millions of others that we make without hesitation every day, turns out to be fatal for her. On the way to the house, which is located just around the corner, she is stopped by a man whose face is hidden by a hood. After a couple of replicas, he douses Clara with gasoline and sets it on fire, turning it into a living torch.

Johan and his colleagues leave for the scene of a terrible crime in their emphasized cruelty the next morning, joking that the newly appointed captain brings misfortune (no one likes work calls on Sunday morning). Or maybe the “black cat” is a newcomer who is immediately interested in paying overtime? Be that as it may, Clara’s murder will indeed turn into a curse for the entire precinct, and especially for Johan, for the next few years not only spoiling the clearance statistics, but also causing insomnia, nightmares, disappointment in oneself, in the meaningfulness of one’s work and in the entire human race (especially its male part) – and this is taking into account the fact that the policemen had no particular illusions before.

From the first frames, Dominique Moll, who has previously shot thrillers, but ironic, with an indispensable mocking subtwist, and here more serious than ever, honestly warns the audience that the film will be about a crime without punishment. Moll is following the same path David Fincher did in Zodiac (2007), focusing not on the result but on the process – all that police routine with iterating over suspects, interrogations, reports and growing nervous tension that corrodes the life of the department. In the French film, the scale is more modest: before us is not the famous series of mysterious murders, but “only” one low-profile case that did not even make headlines in local newspapers. But the impact of this case on all involved is no less.

The main theme of this story is the relationship of the sexes, in which, as Johan puts it, “something is seriously wrong.” Violence against women is committed by men, and in fact, any of the gallery of ex-boyfriends, partners for one night, and just casual acquaintances in Clara’s life could become her killer. But this violence is also investigated mainly by men – the same ones who say that she was too frivolous, changed lovers too often, chose the wrong guys and generally asked for it herself. This disdain rises like a murky froth, hindering the investigation and making Johan, despite his resistance, feel like an accomplice to some extent.

With the appearance of women – a judge (Anouk Greenber) and a new employee of the homicide department (Mona Soalen) – bringing their own opinion, the case seems to be clearing up, but this hope turns out to be false. The answers will not be found, the villain will not be caught, and the ending will not give that pleasant feeling of justice done and the restored order that the detective genre usually stands on. However, some of the investigators will manage to retain something human in themselves – and this is perhaps more that can be expected from them in such a situation.