Dossier 51


Dossier 51 is a 1978 French crime drama film directed by Michel Deville and based on a novel by Gilles Perrault. Deville and Perrault won a César Award for Best Writing for their adaptation. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival.

Plot and style

An unnamed French intelligence service attempts to coerce a French diplomat into working for them.
Their reports build main line of film.
The book resembles a dossier containing notes, memos, wiretap transcripts, expense reports and interoffice correspondence written in various personal styles. Every department in the organization is identified by a Greek or Roman god: Jupiter, Mercury, Esculape, Mars, etc. The targets of their investigations have their names replaced by numbers: 51 for the target, 52 for his wife, and so on, further dehumanizing the proceedings.

Cast