The incredible life of Eugène-François Vidocq has inspired a number of films: Vidocq (1911, 1939 and 2001), Scandal in Paris (1946), Le Cavalier de Croix-Mort (1947) and L’Empereur de Paris (2018) ). Vincent Cassel embodies this convict who became an informer and then a private detective in the 19th century, born under the reign of Louis XVI and dying during the Second Empire. Eugène-François Vidocq was sent to prison on several occasions after being convicted in 1796 for “forgery in public and authentic writings”. But he escaped several times over the following years, until he accepted being an informer at the police headquarters. He will also claim more than 16,000 arrests, before finally converting as a private detective.
who was Vidocq, played by Vincent Cassel?
