A cop called Mat (Gerard Depardieu) goes up against corruption and violence of other colleagues , as well as mobsters and dark political forces . His lifelong friend , Frank (Olivier Marchal) is related to one of the city biggest drug traffickers and becomes involved into dirty issues , then Mat attempts to help him , but things go wrong . As Mat tries his redemption by means of a relentless vengeance .
French formula thriller with plenty of action , crisply edition , tension , intrigue , suspenseful , and loads of violence with reminiscent to "Dirty Harry" and ¨Charles Bronson¨ films . A nice cop movie , being realized in ¨Polar¨ style , and written by the prolific actor and cult director Olivier Marchal at his best . Here he delivers frenetic action , thriller and violence enough throughout the nail-biting flick . It is an engaging flick of interwoven lives structured in two protagonists , Gerard Depardieu and Olivier Marchal , crossed by a web of suspense that is resolved in the last reel in a surprising finale . Stars Gerard Depardieu , giving a real interpretative recital as Mat , a veteran police of a troubled precinct about to retirement , he's the main role of this dark tale of cops in distresses , as he must affront nasty politicians , police force executives and ruthless delinquents . His walk to discover the truth becomes increasingly hard and blurs the usual lines of ethic and morality , until there seems no difference between police and delinquents he pursues . Furthermore , a real description about the underbelly of a police station and the criminal world , including a cruel gang committing a series of violent crimes . The flick revolves around some tragic events that become complex throughout the movie . This serious and truly original film with groundbreaking narrative results to be an intriguing story of ambition , corruption , deceiving and killing , being professionally done , swiftly paced and including a twisted screenplay . The film was noteworthy for casting some of the finest actors in France . Exceptional acting by Gerard Depardieu as an unfortunate cop who executes a merciless vengeance and nice Olivier Marchal as an unsettling police with dark purports . Support cast is frankly good , such as : Anne Coesens , Aïssa Maïga , Catherine Marchal and the Italian Asia Argento , Dario Agento's daughter .
Here stands out Olivier Marchal as a corrupt cop , he's a good French actor who has played several Noir flicks . He is also a notorious writer/producer/director . As he did a formidable job with ¨36th precinct¨ . Olivier then wrote the first draft of this interesting Diamant 13 , and so on , being helped by director Gilles Behat himself , and based on Hugues Pagan's novel . Olivier is a notorious writer/director and he was formerly a police officer . As Olivier Marchal started taking acting lessons when he still was a police officer . He began his career in television , appearing in supporting parts or writing scripts for detective TV series . In 1989 when Yves Rénier resurrected his TV series Commissaire Moulin (1976) he became his partner as scriptwriter , series supervisor and sometimes actor . In 2000 he starred as Commandant Pierre Rivière in his own TV series "Police district" (1999) written by novelist Hugues Pagan , himself also a former police officer . His films are usually played by the same actors as : Gerard Depardieu , Daniel Auteuil , Daniel Duval , Francis Renaud and Catherine Marchal . Olivier Marchal , a great actor/writer/director has directed sensational French thrillers , just like : "36th Precinct" , ¨Gangsters¨ , ,¨Mr73¨ and ¨Les Lyonnais¨ (2011) as good as "36 Quai Des Orfèvres" (France original title) also titled "36th Precinct" and this ¨Diamond 13¨ . The motion picture was professionally directed by Gilles Behat , though it has some gaps , flaws and disjoined scenes . Gilles Béhat was born in1949 in Lille , France as Gilles Marc Béat . He is a director and actor , specially known for his thrillers and dramas , such as : Haro (1977), Rue Barbare (1984) , Les longs manteaux (1986) , Charlie Dingo (1987) , Dancing machine (1990) and Diamond 13 (2009) . Rating : 6/10 . Acceptable and decent French thriller .
