Police

The real star of _Night Shift_ is cinematographer Yves Angelo, who shot tableaux after 2.35:1 tableaux of beautiful, impressionistic night scenes. Usually night scenes come off as garbage on my computer screen; not this one! Angelo was a highly regarded and award-winning cinematographer in the 90s (_Un Couer en Hiver_ being a particular standout). He dabbled in directing afterwards (_Colonel Chabert_ is very good) but has mostly stuck to director of photography duties since. His work with director Anne Fontaine in _White as Snow_ is interesting too, dynamic and atmospheric, although I didn't notice it was him when I saw the film.

It is admitted an odd screenplay coming from Anne Fontaine. Her recent films have centered around charismatic heroines asserting themselves, their ideals, in settings unfamiliar to them, and in the process rediscovering themselves. _Night Shift_ is in contrast an ensemble piece, a snapshot of the lives of three police officers in France. Omar Sy (famous for "Lupin") and Virginie Efira (who is in every other French film these days) do their best to dramatize their soul-destroying, family-wrecking vocation. It is adapted from a novel. The title "Police" is infinitely more evocative than the English one, as the film treats the immigrant in their charge, about to be deported, as a cipher. The cathartic ending is better than most reviewers would have you believe.