Poulet au Vinaigre (1985)

Prolific and widely hailed as one of the finest directors of the French New Wave, Claude Chabrol (LES BONNES FEMMES) applied his talents later in life to creating atmospheric mysteries, which often continued the examination of bourgeois values evident in much of his output. COP AU VIN, based on a novel by Dominique Roulet, introduces the character of Inspecteur Lavardin, a loner detective whose affable exterior hides a man willing to go to any lengths to find the truth, though his tactics are sometimes questionable. A small French town experiences a spate of murders, and Lavardin is called in to investigate. He meets withdrawn teenager Louis Cuno, a postman who uses his position to gather information to stop a plot to take over his family's property. Louis lives with his overbearing, crippled mother, whose cruelty spurs Louis to take his amateur sleuth work a bit too far.