The judge they called the sheriff
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The judge they called Sheriff (BRD) Richter Fayard, called "Der Sheriff" (GDR) |
| Original title | Le juge Fayard dit Le Shériff |
| Country of production | France |
| original language | French |
| Publishing year | 1977 |
| length | 112 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Yves Boisset |
| script | Yves Boisset Claude Veillot |
| production |
Lise Fayolle Yves Gasser Yves Peyrot |
| music | Philippe Sarde |
| camera | Jacques Loiseleux |
| cut |
Albert Jurgenson Laurence Leininger |
| occupation | |
| |
The Judge They Called Sheriff is a French crime film by Yves Boisset from 1977. In the GDR it was called Richter Fayard, known as "The Sheriff" .
action
Jean-Marie Fayard works as an examining magistrate in a small town in France. He has integrity but uses gruff methods to get results. Among other things, he has the director of the Camus factory arrested when a man dies in his factory for the third time in three years. Camus' ties lead to a swift release, while Fayard is promptly removed from the case. Meanwhile, a gas station is robbed and one of the perpetrators, Paulo, is arrested shortly afterwards. Paulo works for a security company run by Xavier Marcheron. His colleagues cover up Paulo, but Fayard is able to convict them of false statements. Marcheron, in turn, is called to his boss because of Paulo's behavior - to the alleged wine merchant Joanno, who is known under the name "Capitaine". Shortly afterwards, Marcheron's body is found on a construction site.
Fayard visits Paulo in his cell and learns from him that Marcheron was killed by the men of the "doctor" Simon Pradal, who, like Paulo, is in prison and is the head of a gang called "Stéphanois". Since Paulo would be dead in freedom, he admits to the gas station robbery and also reveals to Fayard that a number of so far inconspicuous criminals are planning a spectacular robbery for which they want to free the doctor from prison. In fact, a short time later the doctor managed to escape from prison with the help of the captain. Fayard's case is the investigation into the murder of Marcheron, but traces of Marcheron can also be found from the doctor: He was in a bar that belongs to the doctor's girlfriend the day before. Fayard goes to the bar and threatens to search the house. Shortly afterwards he receives a threatening letter; his apartment is also broken into and his girlfriend's rabbit is brutally murdered.
The gang around the doctor and the captain are using data that the general manager of a trading company, Lucien Degueldre - known as Monsieur Paul - has obtained for them to attack a money transporter that has loaded 850 million francs. Degueldre's informants, himself and the doctor’s people each received a third of the money stolen. The raid is carried out in a tunnel; the gang steals the money, but the gangster Bouvine is shot and left behind by his people at the scene. A guard is also shot and the bullets are the same as those found in Marcheron's body. The captured money is meanwhile passed on by the captain to Monsieur Paul, who pays it into a Swiss bank. With him is the deputy Chalabert.
Fayard asks Bouvine who was behind the attack and he reveals his colleagues. He also admits that the captain shot Marcheron, but only on the orders of a certain Monsieur Paul, who laundered funds in Switzerland. Fayard has the known perpetrators arrested, but they have an alibi. Bouvine, in turn, is murdered by the captain in the hospital before he can give any further testimony. The arrested people found matches from a country estate that Fayard had searched. Both the doctor and the captain who were hiding here are shot. The country estate in turn belongs to the trading company, whose director is Degueldre. He used the code name "Monsieur Paul" during the Battle of Algiers . Examining magistrate Jacques Steiner, who got Fayard the data on the trading company and Degueldre, warns Fayard of Degueldre, who is a big deal. Other clues also seem to lead to Degueldre, for example he is the regional head of the Service d'action civique , which also included numerous participants in the van robbery and the doctor and Marcheron. Degueldre's interrogation almost led to a scandal; Degueldre threatens Fayard. He made connections between Degueldre and the doctor, who both knew each other from wartime. Attorney General Arnould is present at the questioning. Shortly thereafter, he offered Fayard the post of 1st substitute in Bordeaux . Fayard, however, continues to research and, with the help of Jacques Steiner, finds out that the shareholders of the trading company also include politicians such as MP Chalabert and State Secretary Valentis. Shortly afterwards, Fayard's case is withdrawn. On the way home with his girlfriend, Fayard is shot a little later on the street.
Some time later, the Camus factory celebrates the takeover by Degueldre's trading company. Familiar faces have appeared for the celebration: State Secretary Valentis, Member of Parliament Chalabert, President of the Court Chazerand, Degueldre and Attorney General Arnould. Jacques Steiner is also present and asks Arnould to transfer Fayard's case from him. He knows who was responsible for the judge's murder and why he had to die. The perpetrators are even present at the celebration. Arnould decides that Fayard has left an empty criminal record that makes no further prosecution possible. Steiner tells him that Fayard had given him all the files and that he had already copied them and passed them on to colleagues who could also stand in for him in an emergency. Arnould accuses him of having driven Fayard to the investigation and thus of being responsible for his death. Arnould ignores Steiner's request to have the Fayard case transferred and leaves.
production
The judge they called sheriff is based on a true case: In 1975, the investigating judge François Renaud, known as the “corruption hunter”, was murdered in Lyon under circumstances that have never been clarified. The film was shot in Aix-en-Provence and Saint-Etienne . The costumes were created by Manuel Tortosa , the film construction was done by Serge Sommier . Due to the references to the real case, the film was about to be banned in France.
The judge, whom they called sheriff , opened in French cinemas on January 12, 1977, where it was seen by around 1,758,000 people. On December 4, 1978 the film was shown on ARD on German television. The film ran on February 16, 1979 in GDR cinemas; the DFF 1 showed it on December 23, 1979 for the first time on television in the GDR.
synchronization
| role | actor | Voice actor DDR / DEFA |
|---|---|---|
| Jean-Marie Fayard | Patrick Dewaere | Michael Christian |
| Michelle Louvier | Aurore Clement | Angelika Waller |
| Inspector Marec | Philippe Léotard | Manfred Wagner |
| Arnould | Jean Bouise | Hasso Zorn |
| Xavier Marcheron | Daniel Ivernel | Hans-Joachim Hanisch |
| Picot | Henri Garcin | Ezard Haussmann |
| Joanno | Marcel Bozzuffi | Karl Sturm |
| Lecca | Yves Afonso | Ernst Meincke |
| Paul "Paulo" Lecourtois | Roland Blanche | Günter Schubert |
| José Bouvine | François Dyrek | Roland Knappe |
| Davoust | Bernard Giraudeau | Reinhard Kuhnert |
| Jenny Alfaric | Myriam Mezieres | Jessy Rameik |
criticism
For the film service , Der Richter, whom they called Sheriff, was a “perfectly staged thriller, which above all captures the atmosphere of the small town environment, which is characterized by mistrust, fear, intolerance and xenophobia.” “Concentrated tension, made with backbone,” summed up Cinema together.
Awards
The judge, whom they called sheriff, received three César nominations in 1978 : for Best Actor (Patrick Dewaere) and two nominations for Best Supporting Actor (Philippe Léotard, Jean Bouise). Yves Boisset had already received the Louis Delluc Prize for this film in 1976 .
Web links
- The judge, whom she called Sheriff in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ prisma.de: The judge they called sheriff
- ↑ The Week on TV: The Judge They Called Sheriff . In: Der Spiegel , No. 49, 1978, p. 287.
- ↑ See allocine.fr
- ↑ The judge they called sheriff. In: synchronkartei.de. German dubbing file , accessed on March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ The judge they called sheriff. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ See cinema.de