Poliss
Encyclopedia
Poliss is a 2011 French drama film written, directed by and starring Maïwenn. It also stars Joeystarr, Karin Viard
, Marina Foïs
, Nicolas Duvauchelle
and Riccardo Scamarcio
. The film centres on the Child Protection Unit in Paris, and a photographer who is assigned to cover the unit. The title is a childish spelling of the word "police". The film won the Jury Prize
at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival
.
The film was produced for 6.14 million euro through Les Films du Trésor in co-production with Arte France Cinéma
and Mars Films. The production received pre-sales investment from Canal+
and CinéCinéma. Maïwenn only wanted to cast actors who would be credible in the roles of policemen: "In my opinion all of them had to have a common feature - they had to look like working class people and speak in vernacular Parisian French." Two former members of the CPU were hired to train the actors.
Filming took place in Paris between 30 August and 29 October 2010. The film was digitally recorded with two or three cameras in each scene. Editing took three months.
, where the film was screened in the main competition on 13 May. The regular French release was on 19 October through Mars Distribution.
compared the film to "a whole season of The Wire
packed into a single two-hour-plus film, ... and even with its loose threads and frenzied structure, it convincingly jumps from laughter to tears and back again, never losing sight of the brutal realities at its core." In Screen Daily
s review from the festival, Jonathan Romney called Maïwenn "undeniably a very strong director of actors, especially when it comes to the delicate scenes involving the various children. She's less adept, though, at judging what is dramatically essential and what is surplus to requirements". The film won the Cannes Film Festival's Jury Prize
.
Peter Bradshaw from the Guardian
newspaper was much less positive. He described the film as "a strong contender for the most awful film of the competition" and "much of it feels like a pretty dodgy evening in front of the television: less The Wire
, more The Bill
. But I don't think any director of The Bill would have permitted the toe-curlingly embarrassing overacting we get in this movie".
Peter Schöning, defined in his review for German Der Spiegel
"Poliss(e)" as "a cry for help which became a film." ("Poliezei", das ist ein Film gewordener Hilferuf...) He added this was "not merely because of the abused children and young delinquents whose cases Maïwenn mentions in her film without showing pictures of them..." (Nicht nur der kindlichen Missbrauchsopfer und jugendlichen Missetäter wegen, deren Fälle Maïwenn in ihrem Film zur Sprache bringt, ohne sie im Bild selbst vorzuführen...) but "...as well because of those policemen who have to enforce the law but moreover have to perform a great deal of social work - hereby permanently being overstrained." (... auch aufgrund jener Polizisten, die zwar der Strafverfolgung dienen, vor allem aber Sozialarbeit leisten - und dabei durchweg überfordert sind.) He concludes: "Despite all the ugly things told in this film Polisse has a beauty which derives from its pursuit of truthfulness." ("Poliezei" besitzt bei all dem Hässlichen, von dem der Film zu berichten hat, eine Schönheit, die aus seinem Streben nach Wahrhaftigkeit stammt.)
Spiegel Online
supplemented this review by an in-depth interview with the film's director.
Karin Viard
Karin Viard is a multi-award-winning French actress. She made her film debut in Tatie Danielle in 1990.Since then she has appeared in such films as Delicatessen, L'Emploi du temps , Adultère, mode d'emploi and La parenthèse enchantée.She was a member of the 2003 Cannes Film Festival...
, Marina Foïs
Marina Foïs
-Selected filmography:* Poliss * 22 Bullets * The Ball of the Actresses * RRRrrrr!!! * Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra * The Race -External links:...
, Nicolas Duvauchelle
Nicolas Duvauchelle
Nicolas Duvauchelle is a French actor.-Biography:Duvauchelle starred in numerous movies including Lightweight, À tout de suite and Le Grand Meaulnes...
and Riccardo Scamarcio
Riccardo Scamarcio
Riccardo Scamarcio is an Italian film actor.-Biography:Scamarcio was born in Trani, Apulia.He went to train as an actor at the Scuola Nazionale di Cinema in Rome, where he now lives. His debut acting role was in a TV series in 2000, while his first ever lead role in a feature film was in Tre...
. The film centres on the Child Protection Unit in Paris, and a photographer who is assigned to cover the unit. The title is a childish spelling of the word "police". The film won the Jury Prize
Jury Prize (Cannes Film Festival)
The Jury Prize is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of movies at the festival. It is considered the third most prestigious prize at the film festival, after the Palme d'Or and the Grand Prix....
at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival
2011 Cannes Film Festival
The 64th annual Cannes Film Festival was held from May 11 to May 22, 2011. American actor Robert De Niro served as the president of the jury for the main competition and French filmmaker Michel Gondry headed the jury for the short film competition...
.
Cast
- Karin ViardKarin ViardKarin Viard is a multi-award-winning French actress. She made her film debut in Tatie Danielle in 1990.Since then she has appeared in such films as Delicatessen, L'Emploi du temps , Adultère, mode d'emploi and La parenthèse enchantée.She was a member of the 2003 Cannes Film Festival...
as Nadine - Joeystarr as Fred
- Marina FoïsMarina Foïs-Selected filmography:* Poliss * 22 Bullets * The Ball of the Actresses * RRRrrrr!!! * Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra * The Race -External links:...
as Iris - Nicolas DuvauchelleNicolas DuvauchelleNicolas Duvauchelle is a French actor.-Biography:Duvauchelle starred in numerous movies including Lightweight, À tout de suite and Le Grand Meaulnes...
as Mathieu - Maïwenn as Mélissa
- Karole Rocher as Chrys
- Emmanuelle Bercot as Sue Ellen
- Frédéric PierrotFrédéric PierrotFrédéric Pierrot is a French actor. He has appeared in over 75 films and television shows since 1986. He starred in the film Tell Me I'm Dreaming, which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival....
as Balloo - Arnaud Henriet as Bamako
- Naidra Ayadi as Nora
- Jérémie ElkaïmJérémie ElkaïmJérémie Elkaïm , is a French actor best known for his role in Presque rien . In the movie, he plays Mathieu, a troubled, emotionally fragile teen who finds himself in a whirlwind romance with Cédric...
as Gabriel - Riccardo ScamarcioRiccardo ScamarcioRiccardo Scamarcio is an Italian film actor.-Biography:Scamarcio was born in Trani, Apulia.He went to train as an actor at the Scuola Nazionale di Cinema in Rome, where he now lives. His debut acting role was in a TV series in 2000, while his first ever lead role in a feature film was in Tre...
as Francesco - Sandrine KiberlainSandrine KiberlainSandrine Kiberlain is a French actress and singer. She has often worked with the director Laetitia Masson, and has also worked with Benoît Jacquot.Kiberlain received the Prix Romy Schneider in 1995...
as Mrs. de la Faublaise - Wladimir Yordanoff as Beauchard
- Louis Do De Lencquesaing as Mr. de la Faublaise
- Carole Franck as Céline
- Laurent Bateau as Hervé
- Anne Suarez as Alice
- Anthony DelonAnthony DelonAnthony Delon is a French-American actor, and son of actors Alain Delon and Nathalie Delon .-Selected filmography:* Poliss...
as Alex - Audrey Lamy as Disgraced mother
- Riton Liebman as Franck
- Sophie Cattani as Drug-addicted mother
- Martial Di Fonzo Bo as P.E. teacher
- Lou DoillonLou DoillonLou Doillon is a French model and actress. Her father is director Jacques Doillon and her mother is British actress and singer Jane Birkin.-Biography:...
as Sister Melissa
Production
Maïwenn got the idea for the film when she saw a documentary about the Child Protection Unit on television. She was allowed to stay with the officers of the unit to research the subject and get to know what kind of people they were. All the cases in the screenplay were based either on things the director had witnessed during her time with the unit or older cases they told her about. Not letting the viewers know the verdicts of the defendents was a conscious choice, because the police officers seldomly get to know it either. Maïwenn wrote a first draft for the screenplay on her own, and was then joined by Emmanuelle Bercot.The film was produced for 6.14 million euro through Les Films du Trésor in co-production with Arte France Cinéma
Arte
Arte is a Franco-German TV network. It is a European culture channel and aims to promote quality programming especially in areas of culture and the arts...
and Mars Films. The production received pre-sales investment from Canal+
Canal+
Canal+ is a French premium pay television channel launched in 1984. It is 80% owned by the Canal+ Group, which in turn is owned by Vivendi SA. The channel broadcasts several kinds of programming, mostly encrypted...
and CinéCinéma. Maïwenn only wanted to cast actors who would be credible in the roles of policemen: "In my opinion all of them had to have a common feature - they had to look like working class people and speak in vernacular Parisian French." Two former members of the CPU were hired to train the actors.
Filming took place in Paris between 30 August and 29 October 2010. The film was digitally recorded with two or three cameras in each scene. Editing took three months.
Release
The world premiere took place at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival2011 Cannes Film Festival
The 64th annual Cannes Film Festival was held from May 11 to May 22, 2011. American actor Robert De Niro served as the president of the jury for the main competition and French filmmaker Michel Gondry headed the jury for the short film competition...
, where the film was screened in the main competition on 13 May. The regular French release was on 19 October through Mars Distribution.
Reception
At the Cannes Film Festival, Jordan Mintzer of The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
compared the film to "a whole season of The Wire
The WIRE
the WIRE is the student-run College radio station at the University of Oklahoma, broadcasting in a freeform format. The WIRE serves the University of Oklahoma and surrounding communities, and is staffed by student DJs. The WIRE broadcasts at 1710 kHz AM in Norman, Oklahoma...
packed into a single two-hour-plus film, ... and even with its loose threads and frenzied structure, it convincingly jumps from laughter to tears and back again, never losing sight of the brutal realities at its core." In Screen Daily
Screen International
Screen International is a multimedia film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by EMAP, a British b2b media company.The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global movie business...
s review from the festival, Jonathan Romney called Maïwenn "undeniably a very strong director of actors, especially when it comes to the delicate scenes involving the various children. She's less adept, though, at judging what is dramatically essential and what is surplus to requirements". The film won the Cannes Film Festival's Jury Prize
Jury Prize (Cannes Film Festival)
The Jury Prize is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of movies at the festival. It is considered the third most prestigious prize at the film festival, after the Palme d'Or and the Grand Prix....
.
Peter Bradshaw from the Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
newspaper was much less positive. He described the film as "a strong contender for the most awful film of the competition" and "much of it feels like a pretty dodgy evening in front of the television: less The Wire
The WIRE
the WIRE is the student-run College radio station at the University of Oklahoma, broadcasting in a freeform format. The WIRE serves the University of Oklahoma and surrounding communities, and is staffed by student DJs. The WIRE broadcasts at 1710 kHz AM in Norman, Oklahoma...
, more The Bill
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
. But I don't think any director of The Bill would have permitted the toe-curlingly embarrassing overacting we get in this movie".
Peter Schöning, defined in his review for German Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
"Poliss(e)" as "a cry for help which became a film." ("Poliezei", das ist ein Film gewordener Hilferuf...) He added this was "not merely because of the abused children and young delinquents whose cases Maïwenn mentions in her film without showing pictures of them..." (Nicht nur der kindlichen Missbrauchsopfer und jugendlichen Missetäter wegen, deren Fälle Maïwenn in ihrem Film zur Sprache bringt, ohne sie im Bild selbst vorzuführen...) but "...as well because of those policemen who have to enforce the law but moreover have to perform a great deal of social work - hereby permanently being overstrained." (... auch aufgrund jener Polizisten, die zwar der Strafverfolgung dienen, vor allem aber Sozialarbeit leisten - und dabei durchweg überfordert sind.) He concludes: "Despite all the ugly things told in this film Polisse has a beauty which derives from its pursuit of truthfulness." ("Poliezei" besitzt bei all dem Hässlichen, von dem der Film zu berichten hat, eine Schönheit, die aus seinem Streben nach Wahrhaftigkeit stammt.)
Spiegel Online
Spiegel Online
Spiegel Online , the online version of German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel, is one the most visited news websites written in the German language.- Company :...
supplemented this review by an in-depth interview with the film's director.