How Long Is “Polisse”?

An outsider becomes a witness to the shocking and sometimes chaotic world of a special police force in this drama from writer and director Maiwenn. The Child Protection Unit is a team of police officers who deal in cases that involve minors, and an ordinary workday finds them dealing with child abuse, youthful thieves, molestation, teen prostitutes, and families on the run from the law. The work is emotionally taxing, and the members of the Child Protection Unit count on each other for support, though they often have issues with one another as well. Nadine (Karin Viard) has a close friendship with Iris (Marina Fois), but in the wake of her divorce, Nadine has becomes jealous of her work partner, which sometimes explodes into vicious arguments. Chrys (Karole Rocher) has just discovered she's having a baby, complicating her relationship with Mathieu (Nicolas Duvauchelle), who is secretly in love with her. And Fred (Joeystarr) is going through a messy divorce that has taken him away from his young daughter, making him volatile and high strung, and while the group leader Balloo (Frederic Pierrot) tries to cover for him, his behavior is hard to explain to those outside the unit. This becomes clear when Melissa (Maiwenn), a photojournalist, is assigned to follow the men and women of the CPU for an upcoming magazine piece and becomes part of their dysfunctional family. Poliss (the title comes from a child's misspelling of the French word for "police") received a Jury Prize at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, and was nominated for fourteen Cesar Awards (the French Oscar), winning two.