117 The Inquisitor & Deadly Circuit

[Finch]

A director with a dark sensibility comparable to Chabrol, Claude Miller made these two twisty Polars (French Police-Noir films) with Michel Serrault (Kill the Referee), showcasing the actor in stunning performances alongside stars including Lino Ventura (Army of Shadows) and Isabelle Adjani (Possession, The Story of Adele H).

In The Inquisitor cops Gallien (Ventura) and Belmont (Guy Marchand) interrogate Martinaud (Serrault), a wealthy lawyer, for the rape and murder of two young girls. The investigation becomes further complicated when his wife (Romy Schneider, Le combat dans l’ile) gives her statement… A gripping thriller with intense performances, The Inquisitor was a critical and commercial success on release, nominated for 8 César Awards, winning Best Screenplay and acting prizes for Serrault and Marchand.

Serrault returns in Deadly Circuit as a P.I. who becomes obsessed with the target of his investigation, a murderer (Adjani) who he follows across Europe as she moves from one victim to another. Switching gears to pitch black humour this wild crime film features both leads on top form alongside a stunning supporting cast including Stephane Audran (The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie), Macha Méril (Deep Red), Sami Frey (Bande à part), and Jean-Claude Brialy (The Bride Wore Black) among others.

4K UHD & BLU-RAY DUAL FORMAT LIMITED EDITION SPECIAL FEATURES

4K UHD and Blu-ray presentation of The Inquisitor, Blu-ray presentation of Deadly Circuit (3 Discs)
Original uncompressed mono audio
Success Story - a documentary on the making of The Inquisitor (2016)
Interview with Claude Miller and Michel Audiard on (1981)
An appreciation of the film by filmmaker Patrice Leconte (2016)
Reverse Short [Champ contrechamp] - a TV episode on crime fiction featuring Claude Miller, Michel Serrault, Alain Corneau, Michel Audiard, and others (1981)
Audio commentary on Deadly Circuit by critic Rachael Nisbet (2025)
A documentary on Deadly Circuit featuring co-screenwriter Jacques Adiard, director of photography Pierre Lhomme and producer Charles Gassot (2016)
A Hypnotic Fascination - an interview with filmmaker Philippe Le Guay (2016)
Original theatrical trailers
Newly translated English subtitles for each film
Reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original posters
Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Adam Scovell and an archival interview with Miller
Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

UK release August 19

[domino harvey]

I’ve seen both of these, and I’m kind of surprised they got relegated to a double feature, as they strike me as titles that could sell well on their own merits (but hey, don’t knock a good deal). I do hope it leads to more of these weird noirs Serrault made in the 80s— there are more of them than you might think!

Garde à vue (Claude Miller 1981)
Lino Ventura’s police detective interrogates Michel Serrault’s dapper attorney on New Years Eve, suspecting him of being responsible for the rape and murder of two eight year old girls. The film unfolds over the night and early morning as Ventura becomes increasingly certain of his guilt and tries to get Serrault to crack. It’s not hard to see where a film like this is going, but there’s a major shift in the last fifteen minutes or so that feels too jolting and unearned. I admired the film for the lean nature of its narrative (it runs well under an hour and a half), but I think a corner was cut here that needed to be retained. Serrault has the showier role, but I thought Ventura’s established screen persona did a lot of heavy lifting here and he’s spot-on in a role he’s played a million times before. Haven’t seen the remake with Gene Hackman, but I can’t imagine Morgan Freeman getting the mileage Ventura does out of this kind of character. The movie’s set-bound staginess makes this seem like a play adaptation, but it’s apparently not. I can’t quite recommend it, but it was entertaining, well-made, and short, even if it is all a bit familiar.

Mortelle randonnee (Claude Miller 1983)
MIchel Serrault’s private eye tracks, covers up for, and eventually kills for Isabelle Adjani’s murderous chameleon under the auspices that she is his own long-lost daughter. I found this tedious (I was not surprised to hear the US distributor cut out thirty minutes) and grew less interested the more it became likely that Serrault was having a mental breakdown and going insane, but it has such a specific tone and approach that I could see it being very popular with a more receptive audience member. Just not me.

[ryannichols7]

I double taked when I realized they were 4K. might be the reason for the double billing. I know nothing about them but they sound enticing!

[domino harvey]

Also worth noting that Chabrol listed Mortelle randonnee as one of the best French crime films of all time, so it clearly has its fans!

[rapta]

Only The Inquisitor is in 4K, FWIW. Deadly Circuit is just regular Blu-ray, for both versions (and the regular Blu-ray edition is limited to 1000). Both look like the kind of 80's French cinema I could get into, more so than Mocky and probably on a par with Corneau. Particularly interested in Deadly Circuit as a fan of Adjani.

I'm happy they're doing double-bills like this as they're essentially mini-box sets without all the faff, reasonably priced, and an accessible way into some generally lesser-known filmmakers (so far Olmi, Tam, and now Miller). In fact on that basis I'm slightly surprised the Vecchiali and Królikiewicz aren't double-bills or box sets (though I suppose the latter comes with short films to fill out the release, as the main feature is surprisingly short).

[Beloved Aunt]

Mortelle randonnee is really fun for about an hour or so (and it's fun to see the incredibly beautiful Stephane Audran play a hideous sallow hag with rotten teeth--it's, uh, interesting and somehow kind of wonderful in a way that she was actually nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Cesars for this. Adjani is a hoot as she usually is, but this isn't much of a role for her nonetheless), but the stupid mopey father-daughter-transference whatever plot junk it turns into was a complete washout for me. What exactly is the purpose or interest of that?

[domino harvey]

If these sell well, perhaps Radiance would be interested in a twofer with Franju and Miller’s versions of Thérèse Desqueyroux— Miller’s take was released on Blu by Artificial Eye but I’m pretty sure it’s long OOP. Also, though I’m not confident that it’s a film that Radiance would be interested in, I’d love to see Miller’s L'Effrontée as well

[therewillbeblus]

I do hope it leads to more of these weird noirs Serrault made in the 80s— there are more of them than you might think!

What would you say are the best of them?

[domino harvey]

I mean, none are great but I enjoyed them all to varying degrees. Serrault’s probably the most amusing in On ne meurt que deux fois, so I’ll go with that one

[colinr0380]

I'm rather surprised that any Claude Miller wasn't his Le petite voleuse, given the label's infatuation with Truffaut! The only other Claude Miller film I have seen is his late 90s film Class Trip, but that was impressively twisty, so I am looking forward to seeing more in that vein.

[diamonds]

Miller's Betty Fisher and Other Stories aka Alias Betty, based on a Ruth Rendell novel, is pretty entertaining. (And if memory serves, it's also quite twisty!) It's not as good as Chabrol's Rendell adaptations (an impossible bar), but Chabrol was enthusiastic in his praise for it, even declaring it superior to Almodóvar's Live Flesh. He seemed to think quite highly of Miller.

[kuzine]

Miller's debut is streaming on Le Cinema Club for two more days coincidentally.

[therewillbeblus]

Mortelle randonnee was an intermittently amusing but slight, quirky thriller. I liked how seemingly everyone in this milieu is kinda evil, to the point where halfway through the film, Adjani gets bored in one confrontation and decides not to kill someone threatening her on a whim! The tense dynamics can quickly dissolve into a strange form of detached 'intimacy'. Unfortunately the film doesn't seems interested in exploring its own internal logic, nor does it exploit it to become a pronounced tilt on our world. The vibe feels distinguishable from noir, but the film doesn't do anything to engage with that tone - other than to focus its attention on Serrault's goofy PI's warped perspective, when it could easily do both or use that worldview to incite the other absurdities to new heights. Oh well. I thought this was a mostly-flat neo-noir that, even if predictable in certain ways, usually had some stock character or situation present itself in a manner that felt provocative or novel for a brief moment (often before turning stale..) That helped the piece function for two hours in a wobbly sort of way, though it would've worked better if cut down to a normal noir runtime. Frustratingly, the film just doesn't seem concerned with all the sauce it dishes out. Less narrative pivots with more meaningful attention to them would've been nice, as it's pretty exhausting being tied to a vision that's so aggressive but hollow inside

[Aspect]

Does anyone know why the 4K edition of this is unavailable for pre-order on DiabolikDVD? It's also ridiculously priced at $100. That can't be right.

[domino harvey]

Kino put out Mortelle on Blu last year, maybe they said something?

[What A Disgrace]

It says COMING SOON on the pre-order section of the site, I'm pretty sure they're just working it into their system, and the absurd price is just there to keep people from buying it before they're done.

[domino harvey]

Just learned that the other half of this double feature was also remade for American audiences in the 90s and starred Ashley Judd and Ewan McGregor, who charitably are no Adjani and Serrault

[knives]

Used to have that on VHS and it was so boring to 8 year old me.

[domino harvey]

I am curious how the film could present the possibility that Judd is McGregor’s daughter when she’s three years older than him

[knives]

If memory serves it doesn’t feature in the movie at all.

[nicolas]

Radiance quietly added Dolby Vision to The Inquisitor in 4K.

[nicolas]

In-depth review of the 4K release by McCrutchy. FWIW, I also don’t have the LFE issue described here. Everything looks and sounds fantastic on my end. Fantastic release!

[domino harvey]

Reverse Short [Champ contrechamp] - a TV episode on crime fiction featuring Claude Miller, Michel Serrault, Alain Corneau, Michel Audiard, and others (1981)

This is by far the best extra I’ve seen this year. 52 minutes of nonstop entertainment courtesy of the above men plus screenwriter Pierre Fabre (who I’ve only seen one movie by, Le mors au dent, which I didn’t like much, and he’s either out of his depths or drunk or both here) and a real police detective who is one of the most interesting participants in the discussion. Lot of great bon mots and takeaways here but surely the most absurd thing said is Audiard claiming, to everyone’s howls of derision, that every Hitchcock movie but one has a dumb script. Someone responds that might be coming from jealousy… Corneau is the most interesting figure here, a bundle of nervous energy and mile a minute speaking who nevertheless seems to be the most knowledgeable figure. Other highlights include Serrault getting offended and defensive after the police officer rather bluntly tells him no one will remember his film but they will remember Corneau’s (for how it depicts police, but Serrault doesn’t take it that way) and the host having what may be genuine contempt for Serrault (I thought it was a joke at first, and probably still is, but he really tells him like eight times that he regrets inviting him and kinda seems to mean it at the end)

One of the few extras I’ve ever seen that made me look forward to rewatching the supplement rather than the film it’s supporting!

FYI, so you’re not lost trying to figure out what they’re talking about because Radiance’s subs use an English title even though current home video releases do not, Honour Among Thieves is Touchez pas au grisbi