In Cinemas from May 20th
(Reviewed by John Glennie)
Patience Portefeux (Isabelle Huppert) is a French-Arabic interpreter for the French narcotics police unit. She is definitely underpaid and overworked, struggling to pay her rent and for the care of her aged mother who is in a nursing home.
She is in charge of phone surveillance and, while listening in on a call relating to a potentially large drug bust, realises one of the perpetrators could be the son of her mother’s carer.
Patience uses her inside knowledge and throwing curve-ball interpretations to divert the police – including the head of the unit Philippe (Hippolyte Girardo) who is also her lover – and run her own wholesale drug network. She decides to use a couple of small-time drug runners, Scotch and Chocapic, to sell the contraband. To set up a money-laundering structure she utilises the help of her Chinese landlady, Collette, with some interested consequences.
I really enjoyed this French movie and how Patience tries to keep one step ahead of the police. But how long can she keep it up? Definitely worth seeing it to find out!
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