Dossier 51 (French: Le Dossier 51) is a 1978 French crime drama film directed by Michel Deville and based on a novel by Gilles Perrault. Deville and Perrault won a César Award for Best Writing for their adaptation. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival.[2]
Dossier 51 | |
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Directed by | Michel Deville |
Written by | Michel Deville Gilles Perrault |
Produced by | Philippe Dussart |
Starring | Françoise Béliard |
Cinematography | Claude Lecomte |
Edited by | Raymonde Guyot |
Music by | Jean Schwarz |
Distributed by | Gaumont |
Release date | 30 August 1978 |
Running time | 108 minutes |
Country | France |
Language | French |
Box office | $2 million[1] |
An unnamed French agency, presumably an intelligence service (though this is never made clear), attempts to coerce a French diplomat into working for them. Their relationship forms the main plot of the film.
A book resembling a dossier (file) contains notes, memos, wiretap transcripts, expense reports and interoffice correspondence (including administrative details, even some bickering) written in various personal styles. Every department in the organization is identified by a Greek or Roman god: Jupiter, Mercury, Esculape, Mars, etc. The targets of their investigations have their names replaced by numbers: 51 for the target, 52 for his wife, and so on, further dehumanizing the proceedings.
Films directed by Michel Deville | |
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