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The Night of the 12th

Here's a French police procedural that doesn't promise closure, in fact it pretty much tells us that this is based on one of France's many unsolved murders. Soon enough, that lack of climactic suspense proves to be a boon for The Night of the 12th. The audience (me anyway) can leave the 'whodunit' nature to one side and just focus on the relationships, the characterisation and the actual procedure, as well as the effects of these types of crimes.

Director, Dominik Moll (also co-writer with Gilles Marchand), takes the book by Pauline Guéna and builds the story around detective Yohan Vivès (a great Bastien Bouillon), a newly promoted captain in the Grenoble police department. On his first morning in the new job, his team are called to a town at the foot of the Alps where a young woman has been burnt to death by an unknown assailant. The usual steps are taken - ascertain victim's identity, canvass potential witnesses, inform parents, begin interviewing possible culprits - we've all seen the beats, but here is where the film differs slightly from most of the rest of its ilk. Satisfying conclusion shortfall. You'd think this might hamper a film but, aside from a slightly awkward time shift, it virtually revels in the unknowable, the mystery that, sadly is still unsolved to this day.

There are fine moments of frustration, particularly courtesy of an older detective, Marceau (Bouli Lanners), and a lot of despair in amongst the suspect interviews. The key scene is a meeting that Vivès has with the victim, Clara's (Lula Cotton-Frapier) best friend, Stephanie (Pauline Serieys). Tired of having to answer questions about her friend's lifestyle, she snaps that Clara did nothing wrong, that she was killed by a man the police haven't caught yet. It's an obvious case of victim-blaming, intended or not, and the realisation stuns Vivès. From then on, he alters his outlook, leading to run-ins with his colleagues and, a few years later, a working relationship with a judge, played by Anouk Grinberg.

The Night of the 12th is a watchable, almost thriller, with fine performances and nuanced characters. It takes some gumption to deliver a film that clearly states there'll be no resolution, while still maintaining interest throughout, and though it lost its way a little in the final third, it's still worth a look.

The Night of the 12th is showing at Luna Leederville.

See also:

David Fincher's Zodiac (2007) is another film that rides into its lack of answers at full tilt, and Moll's excellent Harry, He's Here to Help (2000) will do you no harm.

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