2021 French thriller film
Enquête sur un scandale d'État (Investigation into a state scandal), is a French crime thriller that was released to film festivals in 2021 and to wider audiences in February 2022.[1][2][3] In Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom it was released as "Undercover".[1]
It is directed by Thierry de Peretti [Fr] from his own screenplay (co-written with Jeanne Aptekman),[1][4] and although it is a work of fiction, it is inspired by the real life case of François Thierry, and the book L'Infiltré (The Informant), written by Hubert Avoine and Emmanuel Fansten.[1][2][3][5]
It stars Pio Marmaï, as Stéphane Vilner, the journalist who writes the story of Hubert Antoine (played by Roschdy Zem), the whistle-blower who breaks the story of illegal activity by the head of the Narcotics Unit, Jacques Billard, played by Vincent Lindon.[1] The question driving the journalist and his colleagues at Liberation is, "how far should the state go to try to break the illegal drugs trade?" [5]
Filming
Peretti chose to film in 1.33 format, which is sometimes referred to as a square format, but which Peretti refers to as "reportage".[3]
Reception
The film was premiered at the San Sebastian film competition.[1] At the competition, Claire Mathon won the prize for best cinematography for her work on the film.[6] At the 2023 César awards it was nominated for the award for best adapted work.[4][7]
References