A “French Heat” is how director**,** co-writer and ex-cop Olivier Marchal describes 36 (the French equivalent of Scotland Yard). It’s an apt description. The most obvious similarity is the pairing of two of France’s most iconic actors, Daniel Auteuil and Gérard Depardieu. Here, though, the gangleader/crimebuster dynamic between De Niro and Pacino is one of good cop/bad cop, allowing a more developed relationship. Leading men aside, 36 also displays Heat’s high production values, its seedy milieu notwithstanding.
Also akin to Heat, 36 is based on real events, as witnessed by Marchal. The morally sound Vrinks (Daniel Auteuil) and unethical careerist Klein (Gérard Depardieu) have their origins in Marchal’s much-admired old boss and a maverick cop he knew. Yet Marchal’s ‘heroes’ and their actions are far from black and white, elevating 36 above a cops-and-robbers (or cops-and-cops) cat-and-mouse cliché.
It’s also what locates 36 firmly within the precincts of the policier, French cinema’s response to American film noir, notable for its more ambiguous shades of grey. Marchal makes reference to at least two classics of the genre, Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Doulos and Le Cercle Rouge. They’re in good company with 36…