Une affaire d'État

A group of Congolese insurgents was able to capture eight French soldiers. By way of ransom, the French government sends an airplane load of illegal weapons, which never arrives due to a well-aimed ground-to-air missile. But one could also start the story in Paris, with a murdered hooker. Whether it be the deal gone sour or the dead woman, quite a few people in very high places now get very nervous. 
It’s rather curious that only one novel by Dominique Manotti, arguably contemporary French crime fiction’s biggest star, has been adapted for the big screen thus far. Nobody else has written with such grim humour as well as understanding about the world of capitalist intrigue, about how representatives of the state are always involved when major crimes happen. That novel is Affairs of State, and Éric Valette’s film does justice to its source, even if at times it does seek its own paths through Manotti’s money jungle.