Oh Mercy!

Commissar Yacoub Daoud knows his multicultural community. In fact he was one of those migrants himself once upon a time, but now calls northern France home. We follow him through his busy days on the job as he investigates a disappearance, an arson and a murder with some unexpected results.

Director Arnaud Desplechin does slightly provocative serious dramas with a lot of dialogue. He had had mixed results over the years, with his film Ismael's Ghosts being a confusing mess according to some. Here, however the artistry gives way to an intelligent cop movie, where the realism hits a sour spot. While OH MERCY! feels fresh, there's nothing innovative about its approach. This is how they made procedural police films in the 80's, only instead of Roschdy Zem you would have gotten Lino Ventura.

Talking about Roschdy Zem, this is one of the most versatile modern French actors, who has a unique presence in action, comedy or serious drama. He and Lea Seydoux, who plays one of the girls tangled in the murder investigation, carry the film forward, delivering intensity and realism. The movie is drastically different from what we are used to in cop dramas coming from USA, and this may be one of the good reasons to give it a try.

After the screenplay disappointment of Persona non grata (2019) directed by Roschdy Zem and aired very recently in the French movie theaters, Roschdy Zem excels this time as an actor in this thriller/whodunit directed by Arnaud Desplechin. His aura is obvious. Without forgetting three other characters excellently interpreted: his right-hand man (Antoine Reinartz) and two John Doe as strange as shady (Léa Seydoux and Sara Forestier).

The film articulates around the daily life of the police station of Roubaix, in the North of France, between Lille and the Franco-Belgian border. Thus, two local events will occur concomitantly: a banal rape and a coldly abject murder. The film becomes magisterial during the interrogation between the police inspectors and the suspects and then the cross-examination, without necessarily equaling the quality and the intensity of The Grilling (1981).

As a synthesis: a pleiad of excellent actors in an unaccomplished film.

... is superb as the not-very-bright partner of Lea Seydoux in this latest Desplechin opus. The story has holes in it, but the performances of the three leads do not. I've been an admirer of Roschdy Zem for about 20 years and would watch him in anything. His part is the immigrant who made good in the decaying Northern industrial town, and he settles into it well. Lea Seydoux is sort of the iconic actress in France now, and her movies are high quality, even if they don't move me much. It's Sara Forestier who really impressed me; I've seen a few of her pictures, L'amour est un crime parfait and Gainsbourg (vie heroique) in which she had small parts, but now I'll be looking out for her.

Dr Coulardeau's review is an interesting read--he is certainly angry about the superficial way the city of Roubaix is treated--but I'm not interested in the sociology of film, only in the characters.

Good, pretty fairly rhythmic start, almost too much, but the film runs out of steam in an interminable ending which doesn't really serve the dramatic plot. Beautiful writing of the main character of the commissioner, intelligently played by Roschdy Zem. Good performances from actresses Léa Seydoux and Sara Forestier. The writing of the secondary characters and the direction of the actors concerning them are weaker and clash with the main characters. Honorable mention for the soundtrack. Very nice camera work. A well-made film on a technical level, but which lacks soul, depth and writing finish.

Roubaix is a real place, but after seeing this movie, you're not going to be packing your bits and moving there. It was once a thriving market town, then a nineteenth century industrial center (near Lille), and now it's a dumping ground for people who are not making it big in the exciting new Lille "Eurometropolis" (with its "Eurolille" business district), which also incorporates urban concentrations in Belgium. If this sounds like a socioeconomic lecture, that's because this movie "Oh Mercy!" looks like fieldwork, someone's research on urban decay. Heavy going? - I think you'll find that it is fairly heavy.

I persevered. Gradually the film developed focus on a particular crime: a murder. This is after we've watched overworked cops checking out a burned-out car, some domestic violence, a robbery, arson, and a serial rapist.

Roschdy Zem is a powerful presence as Commissaire Daoud, a rank about equivalent to detective-inspector (UK) or lieutenant of detectives (US). Lea Seydoux creates Claude, the dominant partner in a relationship. There's some classic "prisoner's dilemma" interplay. Sara Forestier does good work portraying Marie, seen by the detectives as the weak link - she has to try to withstand an unedifying interrogatory pressure. If you got through the first half of this film, you'll probably hang in there to find out how it ends.

These days Hollywood clings to comic book superheroes, video games material, corsetry costuming, and reworking formulas that succeeded last time. They don't make movies like "Oh Mercy!" But the film-financing structures of the EU allow space for a certain amount of "grim seriousness." If you're not sure that grim seriousness is your thing, then it probably isn't.