... as it focuses upon a Child Protection team. Within the team we have: Nadine, newly divorced and mother of two children with whom her relationship is fraying from recent domestic pressures; Fred, father of one whose erratic relationship with his wife means he is constantly leaving his child; and Iris, who is trying to conceive a child and can't because she is suffering from bulimia. These are some of the (chaotic) police officers charged with protecting the basic rights of the children of the city. Joining the team is a photographer who documents with her pictures the team's work and challenges. She is Melissa, mother of two children that live across the street from her apartment with their father ...
The film's style is pseudo documentary as we watch the events as outsiders to the team in the way that Melissa is herself, often poised behind her camera. The role of Melissa is played by the director, Maiwenn, which adds another layer to the voyeurism of the audience. The distance this creates between audience and characters makes it difficult for some to believe the scenarios that the police officers face and their responses to them, the most unsettling of which is the well connected and unrepentant father who has been sexually abusing his daughter for some time.
The films works best when focused on the members of the team doing their job; it has a grittiness and intensity offset by humour, often of the gallows type. The film's foray into some of the personal relationships outside the office works less well although they are symbolic of the thin divide between chaotic families with some functionality, e.g. those of the team members themselves, and those in which the chaos is destructive, e.g. the people they arrest and children they rescue. One asks how thin that line is and what could happen before the line is blurred.
The acting is superb particularly from Marina Fois as Iris, who plays one of the most intriguing and intense characters and delivers a powerful punch at the film's conclusion. I enjoyed the film immensely; the characters and their escapades held my attention so completely that reservations about how realistic the film was, were kept at bay. The only moment in the film that felt wrong was the seduction scene on a dance floor between Fred and Melissa however, Maiwenn shows an astute sense of direction so I allow that there is some purpose to this scene that I might have missed on first viewing.
The film's style is pseudo documentary as we watch the events as outsiders to the team in the way that Melissa is herself, often poised behind her camera. The role of Melissa is played by the director, Maiwenn, which adds another layer to the voyeurism of the audience. The distance this creates between audience and characters makes it difficult for some to believe the scenarios that the police officers face and their responses to them, the most unsettling of which is the well connected and unrepentant father who has been sexually abusing his daughter for some time.
The films works best when focused on the members of the team doing their job; it has a grittiness and intensity offset by humour, often of the gallows type. The film's foray into some of the personal relationships outside the office works less well although they are symbolic of the thin divide between chaotic families with some functionality, e.g. those of the team members themselves, and those in which the chaos is destructive, e.g. the people they arrest and children they rescue. One asks how thin that line is and what could happen before the line is blurred.
The acting is superb particularly from Marina Fois as Iris, who plays one of the most intriguing and intense characters and delivers a powerful punch at the film's conclusion. I enjoyed the film immensely; the characters and their escapades held my attention so completely that reservations about how realistic the film was, were kept at bay. The only moment in the film that felt wrong was the seduction scene on a dance floor between Fred and Melissa however, Maiwenn shows an astute sense of direction so I allow that there is some purpose to this scene that I might have missed on first viewing.