Carbone

French police authorities described it as "the heist of the century". Ex-cop turned crime thriller specialist Olivier Marchal takes on the true story of the Carbon Connection scandal in Carbon (Carbone, 2017).

In 2008, the EU lost €1.6 billion in tax fraud thanks to a handful of carbon trading scammers in France. The basic plan consisted of buying carbon permits free of tax within the European Union, then selling them to other buyers, tax included, which, instead of being lawfully declared, was of course pocketed among the cunning crooks.

Netflix now offers a non-stop thrill ride starring the famed master Gerard Depardieu and Benoit Magimel. Ali Hajdi and Olivier Marchal take the Carbon script to another level, focusing on the competitive relationship between father and son-in-law, and raising the stakes to involve betrayal, murder and moving parts.

The film is heavily influenced by the gangster greats, including Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma and Francis Ford Coppola, but updated and polished or the 21st century. Marchal also uses his days on the streets to reveal an authentic cultural undercurrent of criminal life. If you like films inspired by big headlines and can't get enough of true crime (and really... who can these days?) then your weekend is all sorted out. You're welcome.

Nicole Eicholtz 

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