In 2017 appeared The Infiltrator of the late Hubert Avoine, ex-infiltrator of the stups, and Emmanuel Fansten, investigative journalist at the daily Libération. An investigation that looks like a thriller, the former informant reveals to the journalist the workings of a crooked and criminal system then administered by the boss of the Central Office for the Repression of Banditry. After the remarkable political thriller A violent life about Corsican nationalism, the native of the Isle of Beauty quickly became interested in this burning case. The result is a flamboyant fresco by Thierry de Peretti.
A rare form in the service of a confusing narrative
Deploying a rare plastic with his director of photography Claire Mathon, having already worked on A violent life and recently on the dreamlike Atlantic by Mati Diop or the oppressive Spencer by Pablo Larraín, the filmmaker inaugurates his investigation with a fascinating almost hypnotizing distance. From the opening sequence, the discovery with the infiltrator, embodied by a Roschdy Zem at the top, is distinguished by its inherent duality between a desire to compose with reality, in an immersive way, as well as that of escaping to touch a complexity that only the genre can incorporate. A well-documented restitution, the Corsican author-director, eager to take the pulse of today's Paris, has long rubbed shoulders with editorial offices as well as the journalist and his source well before starting writing with screenwriter Jeanne Aptekman. Enquête sur un scandale d'État has the immersive force of a great film-dossier, the sequences in the premises of Libération being of a demanding authenticity, combined with a desire to grasp this singular relationship between the two men. This is where we are surprised to be immersed in an anti-spectacular film and as close as possible to this enigmatic and confidential link, witness of a twilight era.
An investigative film on the lack of resolution
Captivated by the striking relationship between Hubert Avoine and Emmanuel Fansten, portrayed by the accuracy of Pio Marmaï, and putting a fist of honor not to resolve to provide easy and complacent answers, Thierry de Peretti plunges us into a bitter and shady reflection on the investigation itself. Eager to capture the veracity and intimacy of human relationships, the filmmaker signs a feature film of precious sagacity on the search for authenticity. In this, Investigation into a state scandal is purely a political film, avoiding the emptiness of sensationalism to deal with an imperfect and above all partial investigation. Although it is one of the biggest scandals ofthe Fifth Republic , the director chooses to inscribe his film in a dark and confidential descent, with a conceptual and admirable form. Giving you a rather pleasing exploitation, we can only recommend this survey carried out by Thierry de Peretti.
