Détective (1984)

100% of critics liked it
(8 reviews)
49% of users liked it
(550 ratings)

After several years of making films to please only himself, French director Jean-Luc Godard once more invites the audience to the party with The Detective. Not that there's anything so blase as a linear plot or appealing characters, but at least some of Godard's isolated vignettes are accessible… More After several years of making films to please only himself, French director Jean-Luc Godard once more invites the audience to the party with The Detective. Not that there's anything so blase as a linear plot or appealing characters, but at least some of Godard's isolated vignettes are accessible this time around. Set in the Hotel Concorde at St. Lazare, the film is set in motion when miserably married Nathalie Baye and Claude Brasseur attempt to collect a debt from mob-plagued boxing manager Johnny Hallyday. Meanwhile, hotel detective Jean-Pierre Leaud tries to solve an old murder case. These two gossamer plot strands are used to tie together Godard's scattershot views on modern life, with emphasis on the voyeuristic potential of the recent video-camera boom. The director dashed off The Detective to raise money for a film he truly cared about, the controversial Hail Mary. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 35 min.
Directed By: Jean-Luc Godard
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Aug 23, 1995 Wide
On DVD: Feb 5, 2008

Critic Reviews

Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Jean-Luc Godard's 1985 deconstruction of film noir has the lightness and comic zip of some of his 60s features, though the mix of elements isn't quite as rich.
Vincent Canby, New York Times
You can't afford to miss it if you aren't afraid of a little hard work.
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
Very rich comedy about the age of video
Felix Gonzalez Jr., DVD Review
Drawing upon a multitude of genres and styles, from film noir and crime to slapstick comedy, Détective is a variable but entertaining experiment.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Godard's interest, however, is not in the crime (or even the plot) but in playing with the film medium--sounds, music, dialog, images (both video and film), and the written word.
, Time Out
Built on the charisma of its stars and on memories of the great thrillers of the 40s, tenuously held together by Godard's romantic pessimism, curiosity and sense of humour, it's co-dedicated, sensibly, to Clint Eastwood.
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
Vintage Godard with a jumpy storyline and misunderstandings between men and women.
Fran Hortop, Film4
Jean-Luc Godard's hotel-based film noir borders on farce: as conventional as he gets, but still inventive, subversive and darkly comic.

Read all 8 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Anthony L

Detective was a high point for Godard after a fairly unsuccessful decade. Visually, he was back and on form, I could see traces of his previous film that I had enjoyed greatly, the colours, the camera control and likable script. He also goes back to noir, a genres he knows well -… More
Detective was a high point for Godard after a fairly unsuccessful decade. Visually, he was back and on form, I could see traces of his previous film that I had enjoyed greatly, the colours, the camera control and likable script. He also goes back to noir, a genres he knows well - overall, this film is stylishly shot and great to look at. Unfortunately, the muddling storeys gets confusing and I lost interest half way through, a real example of highs and lows here, he'll never beat Alphaville in my opinion.
danny d

although godard was still experimenting with narrative during this decade, detective is a huge step up from some of his earlier films of the 80's. the telling of the story is still quite choppy, but it makes enough sense to navigate well through the stories of the compelling… More
although godard was still experimenting with narrative during this decade, detective is a huge step up from some of his earlier films of the 80's. the telling of the story is still quite choppy, but it makes enough sense to navigate well through the stories of the compelling characters that he has thrown into the mix. a bit of comedy, a bit of neo-noir, the film has intrigue and that godard style that i love so much. still not as good as his earlier work, but a step above his previous few films.
Walter M

[font=Century Gothic]"Detective" was filmed in 1985 as the video revolution was taking hold. In the film, three people(Laurent Terzieff, Aurelle Doazan & Jean-Pierre Leaud) try to discover who killed the prince in the same hotel room where he died. To help out, they… More
[font=Century Gothic]"Detective" was filmed in 1985 as the video revolution was taking hold. In the film, three people(Laurent Terzieff, Aurelle Doazan & Jean-Pierre Leaud) try to discover who killed the prince in the same hotel room where he died. To help out, they record and view videotapes obsessively. On the videotapes are a pilot(Claude Brasseur) and his wife(Nathalie Baye) who are trying to get money they feel is owed to them by a shady boxing promoter(Johnny Hallyday). This sets up Jean-Luc Godard's thesis of repitition and truth. In other words, how many times do we have to watch something before discovering the absolute truth? [/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]So far, so good.[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]But not long into it, Godard gets bored with any kind of plot, and starts indiscriminately moving back and forth not only between the above groups but also a third(including Julie Delpy and Emmanuelle Seigner when they were just starting out), one of whom is just around to try on various outfits. Basically, it feels like the remote is in the control of a five-year old, albeit alternating between the Sundance and Independent Film Channels. So, maybe "Detective" is really about short attention spans. Or it could be a modern take on "The Tempest." Who knows?[/font]