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The Inquisitor

Play trailer The Inquisitor 1981 1h 26m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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Jerome Martinaud (Michel Serrault) is a rich and powerful French lawyer who becomes the prime suspect in the rape and murder of two girls. Inspectors Antoine Gallien (Lino Ventura) and Marcel Belmont (Guy Marchand) bring Martinaud in for questioning, but the attorney insists he's innocent, and the evidence that would seem to incriminate him is not conclusive. As Gallien and Belmot continue to interrogate Martinaud, their frustration grows, and their approach increases in intensity.

Audience Reviews

View All (13) audience reviews
william k Compelling psychological crime drama mainly consists of conversations enlivened by the excellent performances and reveals a fascinating and shocking mystery with a devastating ending. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Beautifully filmed with amazing dialog and acting. Tense and powerful. I have watched this five times and am still not tired of it. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Engrossing police procedural, directed to maximum effect by Claude Miller. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review walter m In "Garde A Vue," it is a dark and stormy night. But since this is New Year's Eve, Jerome Martinaud(Michel Serrault), a 50-year old attorney, has better places he'd like to be than a police station. For Inspector Gallien(Lino Ventura), who is investigating the rape and murder of two young girls, that's just too bad, as he has some questions he would like Martinaud to answer since he found one body and was in the neighborhood of the other. Admittedly, as he confides to his colleague Inspector Belmont(Guy Marchand), he thought by the file that Martinaud was their guy but after talking to him, he's not so sure. In any case, Gallien invokes preventive detention to keep the conversation going a bit longer. "Garde A Vue" is an influential movie on so many procedurals(this was made in 1981, by the way), as it employs a dark wit to mask the seriousness that comes with its cat and mouse games of two adversaries scoring occasional victories against each other. That's not to mention not one but two kickers which is very impressive.(The East German judge doesn't think so but what can you do?) As the movie goes on, it slowly reveals much not only about Martinaud, but about us and the shame that marks out lives which goes beyond why just dog people and cat people should never marry.(I'm open minded but there are limits.) I should warn you if I go any further in talking about the moral of the movie, then that would definitely be telling. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Grand, très grand numà (C)ro d'acteurs ! Indà (C)modable. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Audience Member A moderately enjoyable exercise, but with precious little characterisation, it's all rather obvious. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Inquisitor

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Movie Info

Synopsis Jerome Martinaud (Michel Serrault) is a rich and powerful French lawyer who becomes the prime suspect in the rape and murder of two girls. Inspectors Antoine Gallien (Lino Ventura) and Marcel Belmont (Guy Marchand) bring Martinaud in for questioning, but the attorney insists he's innocent, and the evidence that would seem to incriminate him is not conclusive. As Gallien and Belmot continue to interrogate Martinaud, their frustration grows, and their approach increases in intensity.
Director
Claude Miller
Producer
Georges Dancigers, Alexandre Mnouchkine
Screenwriter
Claude Miller, Jean Herman, Michel Audiard
Production Co
Les Films Ariane, TF1 Films Production
Genre
Drama
Original Language
French (France)
Release Date (DVD)
May 28, 2013
Runtime
1h 26m