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Chicken with Vinegar

Chicken with Vinegar (Poulet au vinaigre)

Movie · 1985 · 14 people

French crime film Poulet au vinaigre, released in English as Cop au Vin, came from Claude Chabrol in 1985. Made in French and running 110 minutes, it is not only a crime story: it also carries elements of mystery, romance, comedy and drama. The title is a pun. Literally "vinegar chicken", it relies on poulet being French slang for "cop", and the English title is a nod to the dish coq au vin. The film was entered in the main competition at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival.

Jean Poiret leads as Inspector Lavardin, with Stéphane Audran, Michel Bouquet and Lucas Belvaux alongside him. The cast also includes Pauline Lafont, Caroline Cellier, Jacques Frantz, Josephine Chaplin, Andrée Tainsy, Jean Topart, Dominique Zardi and Henri Attal. For his part, Lucas Belvaux was nominated in 1986 for a César as most promising actor.

Chabrol wrote the screenplay with Dominique Roulet. MK2 produced the film, with Marin Karmitz credited as producer and Matthieu Chabrol composing the score. As the first appearance of Lavardin, it opened a run of films: Chabrol made the sequel Inspecteur Lavardin in 1986.

DirectorClaude Chabrol
Production companyMK2

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Dominique Zardi Actor · died at 79 Henri Attal Henri Attal Actor · died at 67 Jean Poiret Stéphane Audran Michel Bouquet Lucas Belvaux Pauline Lafont Caroline Cellier Jacques Frantz Josephine Chaplin Andrée Tainsy Jean Topart Jean-Claude Bouillaud Jean-Marie Arnoux

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Through different eyes

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

Chabrol opens the crime-film skeleton up to a mix of genres here: mystery, romance, comedy and drama under one roof. The best summary of that, I think, is the title itself; a pun resting on poulet being slang for a cop signals that the film approaches crime with ironic distance rather than solemnity. Its selection for the main competition at Cannes shows it was not seen as a routine policier either. The weak point is the risk built into that mix: carrying so many tones at once can let the tension slacken at times. As Lavardin's first outing, though, it clearly builds a character sturdy enough to carry a sequel.

Action & Thriller Fan Puts pace, tension and set pieces first; little patience for slow drama.

See the crime label and expect chases and a fast pace, and you may be wrong. Chabrol mixes the crime with mystery, romance, comedy and drama; the tension, in my view, comes not from action but from the question of who is hiding what. An impatient genre fan may find it slow. Still, if Inspector Lavardin grabs you, you have found the start of a series with a sequel already made.

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

The pun in the title says something socially too: lifting street slang that calls the police 'chickens' into the title signals a wry, distanced view of authority. Mixing the crime story with comedy and drama fits that view; the lawman here looks less like a figure of respect than someone who can also be the butt of irony. The English title's nod to coq au vin is a small example of how a local joke has to be rebuilt to travel into another language. In my view the film uses the crime genre as an ironic game rather than a portrait of its time, and it is best watched with that expectation.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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