PERFECT MURDERS (CRIMES PARFAITS) - CAPTAIN AGNÈS BERTAUD: LA MESSE EST DITE/LA BALLE EST DANS TON CAMP (FRANCE 3)

French pubcaster France 3's detective drama Crimes parfaits is a "semi-anthology" where a murderer known from the start thinks he/she has committed the perfect crime but a detective (different in every couple of episodes) proves him/her wrong. 

It's the concept of the inverted detective story, popularized by Columbo though created in literature many years before the famous lieutenant. Crimes parfaits is available in the United States as Perfect Murders, thanks to SVOD service MHz Choice (1).

 

ITE MISSA MISSED EST

 

With five sleuths rotating in 26 52-minute episodes since 2017, Crimes parfaits is part of France 3's hugely popular regional crime drama line-up. Isabelle Gélinas (Fais pas çi, fais pas ça) returns as Agnès Bertaud, an unconventional police captain who prefers her chickens to cell phones and high tech in general. She shares her life between two sympathetic men (perfectly aware of the situation). Enough to confuse Thibaud Demazière, her uptight and by-the-book lieutenant, played by Arthur Mazet. Thomas Walch is back as Max.

 

In La messe est dite, special guest star Fred Testot (Sam, La Mante) plays Renaud Husson. This chemist and mayor of a small village murders Father Simonin, priest of the local church and first cousin of his wife Christine. Agnès and Thibaud walk through the beautiful southeastern village of Cucuron in a disappointing episode with some heavy dialogues. And this is the second time that Crime parfaits uses allergy in a plot. 

 

The "husbands" of Agnès Bertaud, Philippe and Micha, are played by Franck Adrien (Un si grand soleil) and Laurent Fernandez. Alice Chenu plays Christine Husson. Also with Marc Wilhelm (Father Simonin), Bénedicte Vidal (Mrs Berger), Paul Fructus (Monseigneur Ducatti), Najim El Atouani (Omar), Benoît Garrigos (Postman) and Leslie Pranal (Josiane).

 

LE CRIME DU GOLF

Sara Martins (Alexandra Ehle, Death in Paradise) plays the murderer in the far better La balle est dans ton camp. Marion Garnier kills Commissaire Lambert on a golf course and disguises the crime as an accident provoked by a player. The problem is that Marion is a cop too and Thibaud finds her very charming. Max is a living encyclopedia on golf. Agnès goes to the police station (well, on the roof). It's France 3 so the landscapes are mandatorily gorgeous and societal concerns of the moment are shoehorned into the story but the murder is smart and there are moments of great fun. 

 

With Raphael Pellegrino (Lambert), Mathias Minne (Marciano), Benjamin Gomez (Jean-Louis Maertens), Maxime Flourac (Technician), Philippe Lévy (Manager) and Matthieu Ambid (Player). Co-produced by Éléphant Story and France Télévisions, with AT-Production, R.T.B.F. (Télévision belge) and RTS (Radio Télévision Suisse). Filmed with the participation of Région Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Produced by Guillaume Renouil and Gaëlle Cholet. 

 

Executive production by Pierre Gallo for Solune Production. Thierry Bizot and Emmanuel Chain are the associate producers. Stéphane Schneider is the production manager for Élephant Story. Music and theme from Crimes parfaits composed by Jean-Pierre Taïeb. Song One Day composed by Jean-Pierre Taïeb and performed by Elia. Cinematography by Jérôme Carles. Editing by Grégoire Chevalier-Naud. Filmed in Marseille and Région Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.

 

Both La messe est dite and La balle est dans ton camp, not yet shown  by France 3, were penned by Didier Le Pêcheur & Delphine Labouret and helmed by Philippe Bérenger.

 

(1) The international title of Crimes parfaits is actually Perfect Crimes but MHz Choice has a documentary series called Almost Perfect Crimes (Des crimes presque parfaits).

 

https://www.cucuron-luberon.com/

https://www.sequencesud.com/project/paul-fructus/ 

https://www.chateaularcgolfclub.com/ (Château l'Arc Golf Club)

 

See also: 

 

https://tattard2.blogspot.com/2019/09/crimes-parfaits-capitaine-agnes-bertaud.html 

CRIMES PARFAITS - CAPITAINE AGNÈS BERTAUD: COMME UN FROID ENTRE NOUS/AU THÉÂTRE CE SOIR (FRANCE 3)

[Swiss transmission order] French pubcaster France 3's detective drama Crimes parfaits is a "semi-anthology" where a murderer known from the start thinks he/she has committed the perfect crime but a detective (different in every couple of episodes) proves him/her wrong. 

It's the concept of the inverted detective story, popularized by Columbo though created in literature many years before the famous lieutenant.

France 3 is the home of Capitaine Marleau, the ratings juggernaut created by Elsa Marpeau and starring Corinne Masiero as an offbeat gendarme without a first name. Columbo is one of the acknowledged influences of the character. Coincidentally (or not), cousins to the eccentric female sleuth regularly pop up on the channel. Julie Depardieu stars as a whimsical pathologist in Alexandra Ehle, a series written by its creator... Elsa Marpeau. Before that, Crimes parfaits was launched in 2017 with a couple of episodes starring Isabelle Gélinas as Agnès (no last name), an unconventional police captain.

CRIMES PARFAITS FONT DU SKI

Agnès hates the GPS, cell phones, as well as high tech. She shares her life between two sympathetic men (perfectly aware of the situation). Enough to confuse Thibaud, her uptight and by-the-book lieutenant, played by Arthur Mazet. Later, Crimes parfaits introduced viewers to Marleau's newest relative: Police captain Louise Bonne (actress and humorist Julie Ferrier). Isabelle Gélinas and Arthur Mazet returned several times and now they're back again in Comme un froid entre nous and Au théâtre ce soir. But this time their characters have last names: Agnès Bertaud and Thibaud Demazière.

Both episodes were penned by Didier Le Pêcheur & Delphine Labouret. Daniel Marlin, the murderer of Comme un froid entre nous, owns a restaurant in a ski resort. He locks up Julien Beaufort, his employee, in the cold room and disguises the crime as a snowboard accident. Agnès and Thibaud are called by Colonel Yves Lachassagne, of the local Gendarmerie. Julien, alias Manuel Langlois, was actually a con man and a blackmailer. Marlin happens to be the brother-in-law of Colonel Lachassagne, whose family is very important in the region.

Humorist and actor Bruno Salomone (Mention Particulière) plays Daniel. Isabelle Gélinas and him starred in Fais pas ci, fais pas ça (2007-2017) and Comme un froid entre nous looks just like a pretext to film a reunion in a nice ski station (La Joue du Loup). The scenery is not enough to forget the painful dialogues and the clichés. Also with François Cottrelle (Yves Lachassagne), Julien Bodet (Julien), Géraldine Loup (Françoise), Christine Cardeur (Pathologist), etc. Directed by Philippe Bérenger (Nicolas Le Floch).

LE CRIME ÉTAIT PRESQUE PARFAIT

Helmed by Didier Le Pêcheur, Au théâtre ce soir guest stars the popular Bernard Le Coq (Une famille formidable) as a declining actor named Martial Rey. Rey coldly strangles Xavier Mallory, who was about to replace him as director of the Centre dramatique national de Marseille. He manages to have a solid gold alibi and frames a taxi driver who has a criminal record. Agnès, a huge fan of Martial, investigates with Thibaud while dealing with personal complications when she must live with her two "husbands" under the same roof. 

This episode is almost perfect, except for the Agatha Christie-esque stage resolution. Its title refers to Au théâtre ce soir (1966-1986), a famous French television programme. The writers imagined the résumé of Martial Rey: L'éclusier de Conflans, L'âne et M. le maire, À trois on saute or... Nonosse (directed by Didier Le Pêcheur!) Agnès even watches a VHS of the latter (1) from a very recognizable company. Max (Thomas Walch), the pathologist, knows everything about the victim's theatrical performances: La trilogie du silence, Anatomie de l'indifférence, La nuit céruléenne...

The intro of Clovis Masson's radio show sounds like the theme of Radioscopie (France Inter, 1968-1990) composed by Georges Delerue. The plot of Au théâtre ce soir is good. The humour, well dosed, is enjoyable. The main cast and the guest actors are excellent. Also starring Renaud Leymans (Clovis), Vanessa David (Anne Grandet), Franck Manzoni (Yann Grandet), Nicolas Sartous (Xavier Mallory), Frank Adrien (Philippe), Laurent Fernandez (Micha), etc. Co-produced by Éléphant Story and France Télévisions, with AT-Production and R.T.B.F. (Télévision belge).

Produced with the participation of RTS (Radio Télévision Suisse) and TV5 Monde. Guillaume Renouil and Gaëlle Cholet are the producers. Executive production by Pierre Gallo for Solune Production. Music and theme from Crimes parfaits composed by Jean-Pierre Taïeb. Cinematography by Pierre Milon (Comme un froid entre nous) and Eric Guichard (Au théâtre ce soir).

 

(1) "Le film aux 7 millions de spectateurs."

Not yet shown by France 3. 

 

[Update - October 2, 2020] Crimes parfaits will be available at the end of this month in the United States on the SVOD service MHZ Choice as Perfect Murders.