Délits flagrants

After years of negotiating for a permission to shoot inside the Parisian Hall of Justice, Raymond Depardon finally completed DÉLITS FLAGRANTS in 1994. This documentary gives an authentic perspective of the French judicial system. After films about the state of affairs at a police station (FAITS DIVERS) and in judicial psychiatry (URGENCES), DÉLITS FLAGRANTS is the third part of a sociological trilogy about French justice. In the antechamber of the Procurator-General we see criminals who are guilty of minor crimes. Depardon was not allowed to shoot much. For example, interrogations of offenders are always behind closed doors. Nevertheless, he has succeeded in evoking a special atmosphere and in offering a glance behind the scenes of French justice.