# Great police interview/interrogation scenes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [November 24, 2023, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-police-interview-interrogation-scenes/993617 "2023-11-24T08:26:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-police-interview-interrogation-scenes/993617/1 "2023-11-24T08:26:20Z")
My daughter is studying the _**[policier](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/policier)**_ genre in her literature class. As an exercise, students have been asked to memorize and perform a scene in which a police officer or detective interviews/interrogates a suspect. I’d like to find a few good representative scenes she can watch or read for ideas. I’m specifically looking for one-on-one “battle of wits” type scenes, where the detective is trying to manipulate or outsmart the suspect into revealing something, and the suspect is being cagey and evasive in return. In other words it should be verbal and low-key, rather than histrionic or physical. For ease of sourcing, movies would be preferable, though TV series or novels would also be acceptable, assuming I can find them. As reference points: The **[interrogation scene from _American Gangster_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tnudwh58rY)** is an excellent example. Strictly dialog, lots of identifiable beats where the two characters are pushing one another on various points. (Also an underrated movie.) Agent Kujan’s interrogation of Verbal Kint in _The Usual Suspects_ is also pretty good, though the way it’s cut up and sprinkled throughout the movie, and isn’t just a single scene, makes it less preferable for what I want my daughter to see. By contrast: the interrogation in _Dark Knight_ where Batman is throwing Joker around the interview room is _not_ a good example, because it’s so physical. Also: the centerpiece interrogation in _L.A. Confidential_, where **[Exley is bouncing between the three Nite Owl suspects](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-opqUSOUDQY),** is a terrific scene, but (a) it’s got a big crowd of onlookers and (b) Exley is fully in control the whole time and the three suspects never had a chance against him (at least until Bud White loses his mind and intervenes). It’s dramatically excellent, but it’s not an extended give-and-take interview between approximately matched adversaries. Finally, I’ll give bonus points if the sample scene is in French, because that’s the language of my daughter’s class. When you look at something like **[this scene from Anthony Mann’s excellent noir _T-Men_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiW-WS_QTjM)** (which flips the script by having the federal agent being interrogated by criminals), you hear a rhythm to the speech, some casual throwaway underworld jargon, that characterizes the genre and gives it its flavor. I’d love for my daughter to hear that kind of thing, but in French. So, in search of such a scene, I’ve been through my French _film noir_ library, skimming through classics in the genre, from _Rififi_ to _Touchez pas au grisbi,_ and I can’t find a good example. These movies tend to focus heavily on the criminal side of the underworld, and I haven’t come up with a scene where one of the lawbreakers gets plunked down in an interview room and grilled. _Pickpocket,_ for example, has a few interactions between the title character and police officials, but it’s generally in the immediate wake of having been caught plying his trade, rather than the interrogation afterward. There’s a bit early in _Lupin_’s first season where Assane Diop kidnaps the police commissioner and fiercely questions him, but again it’s a flipped script, with the official under the hot light and the criminal running the interview. Plus, there’s a lot of theatricality to the projection screens and the altered voice that makes this an atypical interrogation. I’ll use it if I have to, but there has to be a better example. So. Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-police-interview-interrogation-scenes/993617/2 "2023-11-24T09:23:57Z")
Netflix has an entire show set in the interrogation room. Each episode of _Criminal_ has a new suspect in the room, and we follow the team of detectives between the room, the other side of the double-mirror, and the corridor between the two. The first episode of the UK version has David Tennant as the close-lipped suspect. But it gets better for you! Because there are four series, each set in a different country. And there is a _Criminal: France_ which is exactly the same interrogation heavy setup as above, but in French. The other UK show you’ll want to check out is Line of Duty, a police procedural which revels in set piece interrogation scenes. These are almost always the climax of the show, so high-stakes with lots of dramatic back and forth. The show presents itself as meticulously grounded in real police procedure so there’s lots of “This is exhibit AC/2173”; “I have the right to be questioned by an officer at least one rank senior”; stuff. The cops don’t always win either, so there is plenty of back and forth. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-police-interview-interrogation-scenes/993617/3 "2023-11-24T10:00:15Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > So, in search of such a scene, I’ve been through my French _film noir_ library, skimming through classics in the genre, from _Rififi_ to _Touchez pas au grisbi,_ and I can’t find a good example. I recall an interrogation scene or two in _Le Samouraï_. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-police-interview-interrogation-scenes/993617/4 "2023-11-24T10:09:21Z")
The factory breakroom interrogation sequence in _Zodiac_ might be the best scene David Fincher ever directed. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-police-interview-interrogation-scenes/993617/5 "2023-11-24T10:14:38Z")
Marlowe’s interrogation from _The Long Goodbye_ has its moments: > “So, this is where I’m supposed to say, ‘What is all this about?’, and he says, ‘Shut up, _I_ ask the questions’?” ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-police-interview-interrogation-scenes/993617/6 "2023-11-24T10:26:10Z")
The dentist interrogation in Brooklyn 99 season 5 episode 14. Although a comedy, the interrogation is played seriously and is an extended battle of wits with a great trick at the end. I can only find [clips of the final interrogation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRH7mYuyZSg), but you should actually watch the entire episode for the earlier interrogation scenes. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-police-interview-interrogation-scenes/993617/7 "2023-11-24T10:42:18Z")
Excellent suggestions, all. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-police-interview-interrogation-scenes/993617/8 "2023-11-24T11:17:10Z")
There are a few interrogation scenes in Truffaut, Vivement Dimanche Besson, Subway But they do not look like American scenes; they show the officer interviewing the suspect at his desk, there is no cat and mouse element. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-police-interview-interrogation-scenes/993617/9 "2023-11-24T12:03:17Z")
A [classic scene](https://youtu.be/gnQIOm2KimA) from Columbo. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-police-interview-interrogation-scenes/993617/10 "2023-11-24T13:50:40Z")
“Three Men and Adena” from _Homicide: Life on the Street_. Two detectives interrogate a suspect in the murder of 11-year-old Adina Watson. It’s set in the interrogation room and is extremely tense throughout. The result is as far from Hollywood as you can get. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-police-interview-interrogation-scenes/993617/11 "2023-11-24T13:58:36Z")
I only saw this once, many years ago, and I don’t know how easily available it is, but this psychological thriller is almost entirely a police interview, with numerous twists and turns. > **[The Interview (1998) ⭐ 7.1 | Thriller, Crime, Drama](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120714/?ref_=fn_al_tt_4)** > > 1h 44m | Unrated ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-police-interview-interrogation-scenes/993617/12 "2023-11-24T14:30:48Z")
I was going to say “Any episode of _Homicide_ where Frank Pembleton has a suspect in the Box.” It’s been years since I’ve seen it though so I couldn’t pick out a specific episode or scene. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-police-interview-interrogation-scenes/993617/13 "2023-11-24T14:56:03Z")
The interrogation room scene between Hervey Keitel and Brad Pitt in _Thelma & Louise_ is a great one. The script for that scene was used as an exercise in blocking and editing at my film school. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-police-interview-interrogation-scenes/993617/14 "2023-11-24T15:03:04Z")
The scene from Season 1 of _The Shield_ where Dutch interrogates a serial killer is fantastic. He’s flailing and embarrassing himself, the suspect is clearly enjoying toying with him and prolonging his misery. But then you find out that it was all just a play for time, as detectives were searching the suspect’s aunt’s property and finding bodies. She had tried to call the suspect to see what she should do when officers asked if they could search, but he was too busy enjoying his cat-and-mouse game with Dutch. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-police-interview-interrogation-scenes/993617/15 "2023-11-24T15:12:37Z")
I echo ‘Line of Duty’, which shows well-organised police interviews, with the evidence being clearly available to the defendant (who has a lawyer with them.) If instead you want ‘how **not** to conduct interviews’, I sadly point you to Eliot Stabler’s ‘technique’ in ‘Law + Order: Special Victims’, where he regularly physically assaults the defendants. 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-police-interview-interrogation-scenes/993617/16 "2023-11-24T16:22:36Z")
The Superintendent Maigret books (by Georges Simenon) have a lot of interrogation scenes, both in office and out in the world. Interrogating people (not just suspects, anyone who has something to hide or is uncooperative in an investigation) is Maigret’s specialty, and he often does it in a sort of sideways style that might add an unusual element to the classroom exercise. Unfortunately it’s been a while since I read them and I can’t give chapter and verse about where to find such scenes. I can recommend the Michael Gambon series of dramatizations, which you can find on Youtube, as a possibly fertile source. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-police-interview-interrogation-scenes/993617/17 "2023-11-24T16:28:47Z")
I’d nominate the opening scene for [Inglourious Basterds](https://youtu.be/K0dAqhxfvlg). It’s not the police but I think it should count as a great interrogation scene. (For those who do not know it is a Nazi officer questioning a French farmer…very harrowing scene and exceptionally well done). Personally, I’d say it is the best interrogation scene ever filmed. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-police-interview-interrogation-scenes/993617/18 "2023-11-24T16:44:38Z")
> [@Tusculan](#): > > The dentist interrogation in Brooklyn 99 season 5 episode 14. I started with this, because it was easy to access on Netflix (and there’s also a French dub). My kid really enjoyed it, but I must say I was not expecting to have to explain to a 13-year-old what it means for a corpse to have bear semen on it. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-police-interview-interrogation-scenes/993617/19 "2023-11-24T16:45:23Z")
If you like that scene, you possibly know already [this analysis](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m24JM2D69k) of it. If not, it is a masterclass in cinema explanation. I was impressed. Almost 27 minutes, worth every bit of it. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-police-interview-interrogation-scenes/993617/20 "2023-11-24T16:46:57Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > I was going to say “Any episode of _Homicide_ where Frank Pembleton has a suspect in the Box.” And related to that, almost any interrogation scene from The Wire. The one where Bodie plays the cops is pretty good. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/1H-L5dhs4J8/hqdefault.jpg "The Wire - Bodie Gets Interrogated") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H-L5dhs4J8&t=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-police-interview-interrogation-scenes/993617.md?page=2)