A Pure Formality

1994 Italian film

Gérard Depardieu
Roman Polanski

CinematographyBlasco GiuratoEdited byGiuseppe TornatoreMusic byEnnio Morricone

Production
companies

Cecchi Gori Group Tiger Cinematografica
DD Productions
Film Par Film
Orly Films
Sidonie
TF1 Films Production

Distributed byAFMD (1994, France)
Penta Distribuzione (1994, Italy)

Release dates

18 May 1994 (1994-05-18) (France)
12 January 1995 (1995-01-12) (Germany)
30 March 1995 (1995-03-30) (Spain)

Running time

111 minutesCountriesItaly
FranceLanguageFrench

A Pure Formality (Italian: Una pura formalità) is a 1994 Italian-French drama thriller film co-written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. It stars Gérard Depardieu as a reclusive writer and Roman Polanski as a police detective.

Synopsis

Onoff (Depardieu) is a famous writer who is now a recluse. The Inspector (Polanski) is suspicious when Onoff is brought into the police station one night, disoriented and suffering from amnesia. As the head of an isolated, rural police station the Inspector tries to establish events through careful interrogation and deduction. Through his painstaking inquiries, he eventually clears up a mysterious killing and brings the writer to a new and unexpected realisation.