Thisfascinating and strangely hyper-realistic documentary invites us to witness whattranspires after the Paris police have caught petty criminals red-handed andtaken them down to police headquarters. There, the assistant district attorneytakes down their statements and decides their fate: immersion in the system, orfreedom with a hand-slap. A schlemiel who steals a bag from a car because "Iwanted to see what's in it"; a shoplifter who points out that"delinquency is not for fun-it has other meanings"; an interviewer wholectures a pretty young alcoholic, "It doesn't show yet, but it will":the parade of suspects with their attitudes cum rationales, and D.A.s whovariously reincarnate your school principal, builds to a tragicomedy. It becomesdirect-cinema theater. (Depardon, convinced of the unique quality of the hearingsof an HIV-positive prostitute, subsequently made a film about her (Muriel,1995)).