Displaying items by tag: Cedric Jimenez

CHIEN 51/ DOG 51

France, 2025, 100 minutes, Colour.

Gilles Lellouche, Adele Exarchopoulos, Louis Garrel, Romain Duris, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Artus, Fyodor Atkine.

Directed by Cedric Jimenez.

So much discussion about AI in recent years, not only in terms of access to social media but also to technological developments, changes in workplace and employment, rapidity of information and service.

And, so many movies taking up the theme, remembering Spielberg’s AI and his Minority Report and how developments have moved from there. Minority Report took the theme into the areas of crime, policing, justice. And, in recent years this has come to the fore as in the American movie, Mercy. This French film is very much in this vein.

Paris in the near future, divided into three zones, wealthy class, middle class, the poor. And, to keep order, an inventor has come up with a system of surveillance, policing, Administration of Justice. And the film opens with the inventor being pursued and killed in the streets.

Which means that this film is a combination of futuristic science-fiction and AI as well as a murder mystery and the investigation into the assassination of the inventor.

At the centre is a middle-aged detective, former addict, identity Chien 51/ Dog 51. skilled at his work but often personally unreliable. He is partnered with an intense investigator who has an interesting back story of her own, especially as coming from the poor zone and, on a TV program, Destiny, being chosen to leave her family and moved to the more prosperous zone 2.

Complicating the issue and bringing in the political implications, there is a government Minister who gives smooth speeches and intervenes behind the scenes. And there is a rebel group, denouncing the AI system, and they themselves the target of the system itself.

Audiences looking for a futuristic thriller will enjoy the investigations of the detectives, identifying the killer, the driver of the getaway car, the increasing relentlessness of the justice AI system and the final revelations which, of course, serve as the film’s warning against AI out of control, in itself, but then beyond human control.

An added value is the cast, Gilles Lellouche and Adele Exarchoipoulos as the two detectives and leading men, Romain Duris and as the minister and Louis Garell the lead rebel, along with a humane doctor under threat, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi.

Very French but also accessible to a wide audience.

1. The title, tags, identity bracelets, Zem, his police role, zone 3?
2. Paris of the future, the three zones, zone 1 exclusive, 2 affluent and comfortable, 3 poverty? The visuals of each zone? The musical score?
3. The AI theme, the development, police work, surveillance, footage, cameras and identification by eye, headquarters and surveillance information? Communication between police?
4. The interest in the AI theme, the creator and his being killed, the support of the government, the developments in their exercise? And the final disillusionment that AI was taking over, its own criteria for justice, the need for it to be destroyed?
5. Zem and his story, lack of sleep, late for work, discussions with the authorities, investigating the death of Kessel, the elite, interrogations, following clues? His being teamed with Saria? Initial resistance, the discussions, getting to know her, her problems in background, her links with the political authorities?
6. The film working as a police investigation, murder mystery? The car pursuit, the death of the driver, the passenger escaping, found dead under the bridge, the young gang taking the belongings, Zem and his threats, recovering them? The later explanation of his identity?
7. The picture of the resistance group, Breakwalls, Jon Mafrom, his appearance, his speeches, on the television screen, his following? The various members of the group, almost identical, revealing the truth, the one to sacrifice himself? The main Jon Mafrom and his contact with Zem, the information, supporting him? Reassurances about Saria?
8. The character of Zem, revelations about his addiction, Irina and her work as a doctor, his taking the young man, the clients and her kindness? Her being targeted because of her association with Zem? His coming to warn her, the escape, the threats, the capture?
9. Saria, her story, her mother, the TV program Destiny, young people being moved from zone 3 to zone 2, their joy, but the separation from their families, permitted family visits? Saria at her work, overcoming the past? The pressures of work, the association with Zem, the clues, the investigations, her learning more about him, the murder, her being attacked, the confrontation, her being shot, contact with Zem, his helping her, the surgery, survival? Her work on the autopsies, her friend, discovering the material from the autopsies? His death?
10. Her discussions with the Minister, his TV interviews, his praise of the system, the revelation of the truth, AI, taking control, the information, using the drones, the revelation about the death of the inventor?
11. Zem, saving Saria, his with the carriage, the attack and the young friend and his death? Zem wounded, the hospital, his dying? The final image?
12. The film as a murder mystery, a police detection drama, the future and AI, and the warnings about AI?