Polars in Paris: Six classic films and TV series set in the capital
Paris has often been the setting for dark stories, breathless chases, silent vendettas, and gazes lost in the mist of neon lights. A city of chiaroscuro, it has inspired the greatest masters of crime fiction and film noir. Here is a selection of five iconic films and one TV show, all shot in the streets of the capital, which reveal a Paris of crime, doubt, and inevitable destiny.
1. Rififi (1955) – Jules Dassin
Notable locations: Ménilmontant between Rue Piat and Rue de Bagnolet, Rue de la Paix.
Why this film: Winner of the Best Director Award at Cannes, this masterpiece of French noir is famous for its 30-minute burglary sequence, silent and without music.
American director Jules Dassin, exiled in France due to McCarthyism, adapted Auguste Le Breton’s novel. He didn’t like the book, which he found too racist and sexist for his taste, but he retained one powerful idea: the tense silence of a perfect heist. The final chase around the Arc de Triomphe, where Tony (Jean Servais) tries to save the child, remains a moment of pure visual suspense.
“I walked a lot in Paris,” said Dassin.
And you can feel it: each shot embraces the city.
2. levator to the Gallows (1958) – Louis Malle
Notable locations: Boulevard Haussmann, Rue de Courcelles, Champs Elysées.
Why this film: One of the first “modern” film noirs in France, with hints of the New Wave.
At the age of 25, Louis Malle adapted a novel by Noël Calef starring Jeanne Moreau and Maurice Ronet. Paris becomes an existential backdrop: Florence (Moreau) wanders in the rain, filmed without additional lighting, illuminated only by shop windows, thanks to Tri-X film. The soundtrack, composed by Miles Davis, was improvised during a historic night of recording. Suspense mingles with a disillusioned elegance that reinvents the genre.
Fun fact: Malle, an admirer of Davis, waited for him at the airport to convince him. A single screening was enough to win over the jazzman.
3. Le Samouraï (1967) – Jean-Pierre Melville
Notable location: Rue Lord Byron and Georges V metro station.
Why this film: The most stylized of French film noirs, bordering on zen cinema and crime thriller.
Delon’s first role under Melville’s direction, Le Samouraï follows Costello, a silent and solitary killer. The opening shot, without words, shows Delon lying motionless, accompanied by a bird—as if already dead. The chase through the streets around the Champs-Élysées and the Paris metro to the 20th arrondissement accentuates the impression of an urban and mental labyrinth.
Delon said: “Melville knew this character, who is me, better than I did.” The title, which echoes the katana displayed in his room, convinced him in just a few pages.
4. De battre mon cœur s’est arrêté (2005) – Jacques Audiard
Notable location: Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Avenue Montaigne
Why this film: A French remake of an American film noir, combining elements of crime thriller and inner quest.
Romain Duris plays Thomas, a young Parisian thug who dreams of becoming a pianist. Between brutal confrontations and scenes of musical learning, the film explores the idea of redemption in a harsh world. Music is central to the film, as is the memory of his deceased mother, a pianist. Notable fact: Duris actually learned to play Bach’s Toccata in E minor for his role, guided by his sister, pianist Caroline Duris, who also contributed to the soundtrack — an immersion so deep that the musical scenes gain in authenticity and emotion.
Audiard does not claim the film to be film noir, but his key phrase sums up its spirit: ‘Life serves up two courses… but the second one is more expensive.’
5. Le Petit Lieutenant (2005) – Xavier Beauvois
Notable location: various districts of Paris – between the Canal Saint-Martin, the Quai des Orfèvres and the banks of the Bassin de la Villette
Why this film: a documentary-style crime thriller, carried by a powerful female character played by Nathalie Baye
Xavier Beauvois directs a naturalistic crime thriller, devoid of pretence, centred on the mentor/student relationship between the ‘little lieutenant’ Antoine (Jalil Lespert) and Commander Caroline Vaudieu (Nathalie Baye). This strong female character—a former alcoholic, broken by the loss of her son—takes up the torch of a difficult profession, revealing a rare psychological depth. Beauvois mixes professional and non-professional actors, immersing the viewer in a police station that is both realistic and intimate.
Originally intended for Jacques Dutronc, the role of Caroline was rewritten to be played by Nathalie Baye, allowing for a maternal dynamic and an intimate counterpoint to Antoine’s trajectory. The film earned her the César Award for Best Actress in 2006.
6. Spiral – Engrenages (2005-2020) – Canal+
Notable location: Palais de Justice, 1st arrondissement.
Why this series: The first long-running realistic French procedural crime drama, acclaimed internationally.
With eight seasons, Spiral (Engrenages) has revitalised Parisian crime dramas for the small screen. Investigating magistrates, police captains, lawyers: destinies intertwine around real courtrooms, often filmed on location, and neighbourhoods in the Grand Paris, such as the 19th and 20th arrondissements and towns like Aubervilliers, Montreuil and La Courneuve.
Fun fact: The series’ writers surrounded themselves with numerous advisors: police officers, magistrates, police commissioners and lawyers such as Caroline Serre, nicknamed the lioness of the bar, who inspired the character of Joséphine Karlsson (Audrey Fleurot).
Paris, the eternal setting for film noir
From the cobblestones of Lord Byron Street to the dark stairways of Ménilmontant, Paris remains one of the most powerful settings for crime fiction. By turns elegant, dangerous, melancholic and menacing, the city inspires as much as it traps. Each film or series mentioned here reveals a facet of this dark Paris, populated by haunted characters, weary police officers and elegant gangsters.
Ciné-Balade takes you on the trail of film noir shot in Paris with the Paris Polar guided tour.