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Posted: Wed., Apr. 19, 2006, 4:26pm PT

The Tiger Brigades
Les Brigades du Tigre
(France)

A TFM Distribution release of a Les Films Manuel Munz presentation of a Les Films Manuel Munz, TF1 Intl., France 2 Cinéma, France 3 Cinéma, GAM Films, Films Inc. production, with participation of TPS Star. (International sales: TF1 Intl., Issy-les-Moulineaux, France.) Produced by Manuel Munz. Directed by Jérôme Cornuau. Screenplay, Xavier Dorison, Fabien Nury, Cornuau, based on the TV series directed by Victor Vicas.

With: Clovis Cornillac, Diane Kruger, Édouard Baer, Olivier Gourmet, Stefano Accorsi, Jacques Gamblin, Thierry Frémont, Léa Drucker, Didier Flamand, Philippe Duquesne, Alexandre Medvedev, Richard Valls, André Marcon, Agnès Soral, Alexandre Arbat, Mathias Mlekuz , Pierre Berriau, Éric Prat, Gérard Jugnot.

By LISA NESSELSON

There's a delicate whiff of mothballs (but no dead air) in "The Tiger Brigades," a dense period thriller set in crime-plagued 1912 France. Inspired by a popular French TV series of the '70s, which was in turn inspired by Gaul's real-life, "Untouchables"-like detective squads, pic sports a mix of idealism, duty, corruption and daunting violence in which German actress Diane Kruger shines as a Russian aristocrat sympathetic to the anarchist cause. Execution and narrative are proudly old-fashioned, but sharp production design and appealing cast make the two hours fly by.
Despite the threat of the guillotine, at the start of the last century gangsters flourished in France. As a result, popular and ambitious minister of the interior Georges Clémenceau -- nicknamed "The Tiger" -- created "mobile brigades," the first cops to have automobiles (some going as fast as 25 m.p.h.) and techniques like finger-printing at their disposal (unabling a parallel with France's current situation with Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy according to the French press).

A dozen such outfits were deployed nationwide: Pic follows dedicated Valentin (Clovis Cornillac) and his three colleagues. Elegantly thuggish Pujol (Édouard Baer) has a sardonic sense of humor and is mutually nuts about resourceful typically "Parigote" prostitute Léa (Léa Drucker); jovial Terrasson (Belgian Olivier Gourmet) represents the Tiger Brigades in boxing matches. Newcomer Achille Bianci (Stefano Accorsi), an Italian immigrant, takes their ribbing with manly fortitude.

Their current assignment, courtesy of stern-but-fair boss Faivre (Gérard Jugnot), is to track down the gang led by Jules Bonnot (Jacques Gamblin), a committed anarchist who (in real life) pulled off the first holdup with a getaway car in French history. Such new-fangled audacity, stoked by the popular press, made him Public Enemy No. 1 and "La Bande à Bonnot" feared. The moustached "Mobilards" as they were called are in competition with the Parisian police and the Prefet at their head.

Russian princess Constance Bolkonski (Kruger) is in Paris to stage the opera "Ivan the Terrible." While her dashing but odious husband (Alexandre Medvedev) plans to sign a self-serving three-way pactpact with France and England (the famous "Triple Entente"), Constance is madly in love with Bonnot. The illicit lovers' secret mission is to expose the monumental fraud behind the Russian bonds on which ordinary French people are risking their savings, while bureaucrats and politicians are making lots of money (almost a true story).

Throw in a narcotics-addicted Russian killer (Emmy Award winner Thierry Frémont), a crusading journalist and politician Jean Jaurès (André Marcon)who existed in real life, a corrupt banker (Philippe Duquesne) and a host of greedy power-mongers -- and the stage is set for multi-layered intrigue just a few years before the outbreak of WWI and the Russian Revolution.

Parallels between the reign of Ivan the Terrible and the rumblings afoot across Europe are clearly evoked during a rehearsal at the Paris Opera. Script also taps into the grudging respect between hunter and prey, as Valentin and Bonnot each fight for what they believe in. Tense finale and multiple codas all click, and the Belle Époque settings, garb, vehicles and accessories are nicely deployed on a reported budget of 17 million euros ($20.5 million).

During its nine-year, 36-episode run, the TV series covered the period from 1907-1920. Show's infectious theme song (by Big Band legend Claude Bolling) rouses local memories as surely as "The Twilight Zone" or "Batman" themes do Stateside.

Camera (color, widescreen), Stéphane Cami; editor, Brian Schmitt; music, Olivier Florio; theme song, Claude Bolling; production designer, Jean-Luc Raoul; costume designer, Pierre-Jean Larroque; sound (Dolby), François Joseph Hors, Eric Devulder; stunts, Alain Figlarz (the one who did the job for The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy); "Ivan the Terrible" choreographer, Frank Thezan; assistant director, Valerie Othnin-Girard; casting, Pierre-Jacques Benichou, Pascale Béraud. Reviewed at UGC Odéon, Paris, April 15, 2006. Running time: 124 MIN.


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