Le Magra

In this essay about teaching future police officers at the police academy at Nicolet, the process is seen as fabricating individuals with conformist attitudes and pre-determined reflexes. The steps involved when young men join the police are captured by various camera angles. The scenes highlight the uniformity of attitudes and gestures and the soundtrack is almost entirely composed of live sounds, simulations, target practice, commands from the officers, and answers from the students. There is no room for personal experience except during the final inspection, when students are asked about their previous occupations. One of them is Le Magra, someone at one and the same time scared by his darker side, repressive authority and the embodiment of alienation.