Marketic It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Micransix Crappy film

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Luigi Di Pilla I discovered this brutal but entertaining thriller checking all directed movies by Olivier Marchal. I don't regret because it was never boring. There were plenty twists and dramatic moments. The story is built up carefully with dark and violent pictures. There are some nudity scenes to keep high the attention... I have only one critic: the identity of the killer could have been revealed with much more suspense.Toward the end it was so far emotionally that I had nearly tears in my eyes.Daniel Auteuil and all the other actors delivered a superb and cool performance. Finally Olivier Marchal presented a great thriller worth watching.MR 7/10

Tatiana Gorshenina First I heard about this film in May and since then I was looking forward to release. And such a long expectation was has justified itself. If it is said about a film that it is made by the same director and with practically the same actors as the “36 Quai des Orfèvres” film, then it can be taken for granted that this particular film is worth watching. Usually it sounds like pure advertisement, but in the “MR 73” case the fact that the plot is based on a true story is one of the key factors of the perception of what is going on on the screen. For there are scenes of borderline cruelty and they are shot with extreme naturalism. Though I think such scenes are on their place, and if they had been excluded, it would have damaged the movie. The rate of violence is exactly of that level a spectator can expect from the police drama of such realistic focus. In case Thackeray’s “Vanity Fair” is a novel without a hero, then “MR 73” can be called a film without a hero. Of course Schneider can account on certain sympathy, but as a whole his methods are inadmissible. I do understand his unwillingness to let Kovalski win laurels, but it is not a proper ground for showing hackles and putting at stake the safety of the city by violating the arrest procedure. After all, what is more important – to stop a maniac or to pay off old scores? Seeing the names of Daniel Auteuil and Olivier Marchal on a DVD box is a quality guarantee for me. Auteuil’s acting is magnificent as always. Schneider is a drastic transformation played brilliantly. Out of his partners I would distinguish Francis Renaud (Kovalski). He is actually not known well in Russia, but I can judge by two films - “MR 73” and “Gangsters” also directed by Olivier Marchal – if there is a need for a real bad, though “bad” is not exactly the word, probably an ugly, vicious and repulsive cop, then there is no better candidacy than Francis Renaud. A rare talent, a born talent I think to play scoundrels. Actually if I wanted, I might find fault with the screenplay. Say, it is not news that the criminal is being exposed by the parallel between homicides and the pets found near the crime scenes. It is rather easy to make a conclusion that a maniac is someone who has an access to these pets or who at least had an opportunity to see them. We have already seen this in “Red dragon”, but let us leave this far-fetched objection. The point is I am inclined to believe that what happens in “MR 73” took place in reality, so it has nothing to do with the imaginary events of Thomas Harris books. The pets that participated in the film, that is the puppy and the cat of enormous size are so sweet, but is has been said long before that if there are animal actors they will inevitably outshine the human ones. Those of “MR 73” were a real treat for spectators, especially the way Auteuil’s hero communicated with them. What the pets do is converting the gloomy atmosphere of the film into something a little bit less depressing. With “36 Quai des Orfèvres” being my most favorite police drama, I could not but enjoy “MR 73”, and if you also like the previous Auteuil and Marchal common work, their new film will also find its place among your favorites.

Dries Vermeulen Directed by ex-cop Olivier Marchal as the concluding part of the trilogy he started with the critically acclaimed GANGSTERS and 36 QUAI DES ORFEVRES, this promised to be an inside look at the French police system. At least, that's all I knew when I entered the theater, lured in by the presence of the ever dependable Daniel Auteuil who may have compiled the most impressive body of work this side of Depardieu. Had I known beforehand just how relentlessly downbeat a cinematic experience this was going to be, it might have scared me off and that would have been very much my loss… Set in the coastal town of Marseilles, made to look extremely uninviting by the bleached out cinematography of Denis Rouden (a master of atmosphere, as evidenced by his sterling work on Lionel Delplanque's PROMENONS-NOUS DANS LES BOIS and Olivier Megaton's LA SIRENE ROUGE), the narrative incorporates two serial killers – one past, one present – and their influence on weary, dead-eyed cop Louis Schneider in charge (initially, at least) of both cases. Those expecting a Continental carbon copy of SE7EN however will be disappointed (additional comments prove as much) as this is basically background for Schneider's road to redemption. Careful viewer attention is mandatory to grasp matters that have occurred in the past – sometimes only visually alluded to rather than spelled out in dialog – and how they not so much influence as downright paralyze the character in the present. Suffice it to say that a furtive fling with co-worker Marie (a subtle portrayal by the hauntingly beautiful Catherine Marchal, hereto best known for extensive TV work) at the exact same time his wife crashed her car on the freeway, reducing her to vegetable and killing their only child, provided him with enough guilt for at least three lifetimes. While his reprehensible and morally corrupt superior Kovalski, played with hiss-able relish by Francis Renaud, works hard to take Schneider of the current murder case, an unwelcome blast from the past will put everything into perspective. After 25 years of incarceration, psychopath Charles Subra (craggy-faced Philippe Nahon in his best performance since Gaspar Noë's SEUL CONTRE TOUS) is about to be released on good behavior, upsetting troubled bartender Justine (gorgeous Olivia Bonamy, unforgettable in the out of left field horror hit ILS, who continues to impress more with each passing film) whose parents he slaughtered before her very eyes. Requiring Schneider's help in bringing the seemingly reformed murderer (who has "found God") to justice, she unwittingly helps pave the way for the demon-plagued policeman to make his peace with the past. Fundamentally decent, he eventually summons up the courage to do the right things, even as rampant corruption and random violence threaten to obliterate his valiant efforts.With human kindness in such short supply, Marchal still allows for a single ray of hope to shine through at film's end. The fact that he accomplishes this through possibly the most hackneyed of narrative devices (the birth of a baby) and yet manages not to make it come off as such attests to his considerable talents as both filmmaker and story-teller as well as the profound emotional investment audiences have established by then with these emotionally battered characters. The exquisitely elegiac soundtrack by Bruno Coulais, who has clearly been going from strength to strength, beautifully complements the human and religious connotations the movie has built towards. Viewers who complained about the perfunctory exposition in both murder cases actually managed to miss the point the director has gone to such great lengths to make, that even the most adverse of situations can serve to bring out the best in people if this is within their nature, ofttimes unbeknown to even themselves. Though on the surface as noir as noir can be, this may ultimately prove an optimist opus at heart. Just brace yourself passing through. There is light at tunnel's end

frenchiex2000 As i was thrilled by the action, acting and dark side of MARCHAL' s "36", i decided not to miss his next film. there is less action like" Heat" but more reflection and gruesome images, like in SEVEN, if you like. Auteuil and the girl are perfect. you feel for both. you love to hate the baddies as we all did in "36", but it just shows that in the police force, of any nationality by the way, there are some who do their jobs for the right reasons and some who have lost faith, and the notion of good. i loved the ending and i will not spoil it for you. a great plot , 2 to be exact. it is refreshing to watch a film noir as good as,if not better than when they first came out 50 years ago. Auteuil is a great one for those. Depardieu in the next movie again would be the icing on Marchal' s cake.