In 1989, the policier "L'union sacrée" premiered in French screens, and became a massive success. Starring two of the new faces of French cinema, Patrick Bruel and Richard Berry, it is, unfortunately,one of the films that don't know what they are, always trying to balance social commentary and hardcore action.
Simon, a Jewish cadet (Bruel), is tasked to work with a Muslim, Karim (Berry), in order to discover the leader of a drug trafficking network in schools. Both of them despise the other, due to their religion and general character. But, in the course of the film, these two will make the most improbable team, fighting a team of Middle Eastern radical terrorists, related to the drug ring.
The problem with this movie is that it goes through an identity crisis. Running for two hours, the first one is as different from the other as chalk and cheese. In the first hour, we are shown the two policemen's acquaintance, and their discussions about matters of religion, and tradition. The only thing connecting them is their professional obligations, since their collaboration is enforced by their boss. The youthful, active Simon can't stand the reserved, calm Karim, and this leads them to conflicts. Of course, their main point of clash is religion, and the two don't hesitate threatening the other, citing wars were their respective side triumphed. Sociologically, this first hour is extremely interesting, as we get to see two of the biggest social groups in France confront each other, as personified by two people.
In the second hour, all this vanishes, and the movie becomes just another policier, which is deficient in that extent, with action scenes that seem artificial, and drama that is as moving as losing one's toothpaste is. Berry and Bruel, two excellent actors, here exhibit no special qualities, with performances that seem over-the-top sometimes, what with the one's neuroticism and the other's total indifference to it.
Alexandre Arcady knows how to direct, this is sure. But in other commercial works of his, say, "Hold-Up" (1985), with Jean-Paul Belmondo, he knew what he wanted to make; in this case, a parody of the policier genre. Because of that fact, the movie had a cohesive structure that never let it go of its real character, with a hilarious and smart result. In his real policier, "L'union sacrée", he is constantly balancing the film between social criticism - maybe against religion-motivated racism?- and action. The result is a badly-executed work that doesn't hold the viewer for its entirety. Having a duration of two hours, when most policiers of the time were about 90 to 100 minutes long certainly didn't help.
What to keep from all that? Well, "L'union sacrée" is a film that starts off well, but develops into something completely different, that doesn't serve it as satisfyingly as Arcady thought it would. Sacré Alexandre Arcady, you can do better, but here, you messed everything up.
