Sambre: Anatomy of a Crime is the English title of a French historical drama – a miniseries with six episodes – which premiered in France in 2023. In 2024, it was shown on British television (BBC)
An on-screen message placed at the beginning of each episode explains that this is a fictional story based on true events.
This is the story about a serial rapist who operated in the northern part of France and, occasionally, across the border in Belgium.
More than fifty women were attacked by this person over a period of thirty years (1988-2018).
In most cases, he used the same modus operandi:
He was wearing a ski mask, so it was not easy to identify him. He attacked his victim from behind, so she was surprised. He threw a rope around her neck and pulled so hard that she nearly choked.
He had a pocket knife which he threatened to use if she tried to resist. When he was done, he left the victim on the ground and walked away.
Most of his victims were attacked very early in the morning while they were walking on a road which runs along the River Sambre. Hence the title of the drama.
Here is some basic information about this drama:
** Creator and director: Jean-Xavier de Lestrade
** Writers: Alice Géraud and Marc Herpoux
** Based on a book by Alice Géraud
** Language: French
** Subtitles: English
** Run time: 6 x 50 minutes = 300 minutes
The cast includes the following:
** Alix Poisson as Christine Labot – the first victim
** Jonathan Turnbull as Enzo Salina – the rapist
** Louise Orry-Diquero as Stephanie Salina – Enzo’s wife
** Olivier Gourmet as Etienne Winckler – the commandant
** Julien Frison as Jean-Pierre Blanchot – a police officer
** Pauline Parigot as Irène Dereux – the judge
** Noemie Lvovsky as Arlette Caruso – the mayor
** Clemence Poésy as Cécile Dumont – the scientist
Since this drama is based on a true story, the basic facts are part of the public record. They are not a secret. This is why I feel free to mention some of them here.
While this drama is based on a true story, it is not a documentary film. It is a dramatized version of events. Not everything happened exactly as shown here.
Some details may have been added, altered or excluded for dramatic reasons or practical purposes. But the basic story is true.
The story of the Sambre rapist is told in a linear fashion. This means the story begins in 1988 in the first episode and it ends in 2018 in the final episode.
But while the story moves forward - step by step - the six episodes are arranged in a special way. Each episode focuses on one person who is somehow involved in this case. Here are the headlines of the six episodes:
# 1. Christine – the first victim
# 2. Irène – the judge
# 3. Arlette – the mayor
# 4. Cécile – the scientist
# 5. Winckler – the commandant
# 6. Enzo – the rapist
The identity of the rapist is revealed to the viewers quite early, but the identity is not known to any other character in the drama. Some of them are close to him, but they are not aware of his secret role as a serial rapist.
For thirty years, his identity was unknown. For thirty years, the official investigation failed to identify and arrest him. For thirty years, the authorities were unable to solve this case.
How was he able to get away with this? How could he commit so many crimes without being caught?
The first reason
He was careful and lucky. He always chose a deserted place with no witnesses. He did not leave any clues which might reveal his identity. There were no fingerprints. There was no physical evidence.
The second reason
The local police force was lazy and did not operate in a professional way. Especially in the early years.
Some police officers did not want to open a new case when a woman reported a rape
Some police officers were reluctant to believe the statements made by victims
Some police officers were not keen to conduct a serious investigation when a women reported a crime
Some police officers did not want to accept the fact that these crimes were committed by the same person
When a victim was interviewed, the police officer would sometimes ask hostile questions. The victim was not given any support or comfort. The victim felt the police officer blamed the victim for what happened.
After a while, the police force had to accept the fact that a serial rapist was operating in their area. Once they accepted this fact, they created a profile of the suspect.
According to the profile, he was an outsider and not a local person, because if he was a local person, somebody would know him. He had to come from another area.
According to the profile, he was single. He was a lonely person who lived alone or with his parents. He did not have any friends. He did not have any social skills.
According to the profile, he committed these crimes, because he was a lonely person who did not know how to make friends and how to communicate well with other people.
When the perpetrator was finally identified and arrested, it became clear that the profile was totally wrong and this flaw was, in fact, one reason why the police had been unable to identify him and catch him for so many years.
The flawed profile prevented the police from conducting an efficient investigation. The profile was not helpful at all. On the contrary, it made it more difficult to solve the case.
How and why was the criminal caught? How and why was the case solved? In 2018, he made a mistake. In 2018, he made a careless move.
He used his own car. He parked his car in a car park not far from the location where he was going to attack a victim.
From the car park he walked to the location which was a deserted place.
Having completed his attack, he returned to his car. He got into his car and drove home.
He did not realise that the car park was covered by a surveillance camera. The police knew exactly when the attack took place. They suspected the criminal had used a car to get to the area. Maybe he had parked his car in a car park near the scene of the crime.
When they checked the footage recorded around the time of the attack, they found what they were looking for. They found what they needed.
A man had parked his car in the car park shortly before the attack happened. He walked away. He returned to his car shortly after the crime was committed and drove away.
Nobody else entered or left the car park around that time. It had to be the rapist. When they looked at the footage, police officers were able to identify the car and the license plate.
Who was the owner of this car? When they saw the name and the address of the owner, they could not believe what they saw. They already knew him!
Having identified the rapist, they had to arrest him. Once they arrested him, they found the rope and the pocket knife he had used during his attacks in the glove compartment of his car.
Now they had some physical evidence. Confronted with
the evidence discovered, the criminal realised the game was over. He confessed to some of his numerous crimes.
The criminal did not fit the profile. He was a family man. He had a wife and children. He had a job. He had friends. One of his friends was a police officer.
In his free time, he was a football coach for the local football team. Many parents in the village knew him as the football coach.
Nobody suspected anything. Over a period of thirty years, he had been able to avoid detection. Many people thought they knew him. They were shocked when they realised that this was not the case at all.
In the drama, the name of the serial rapist is Enzo Salina. The name has been altered. Perhaps for legal reasons. The real name of the criminal is Dino Scala.
In 2022, four years after his arrest, he was tried in a court of law where he was found guilty of committing dozens of rapes and sexual assaults in northern France and across the border in Belgium. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
What do reviewers say about this drama?
On IMDb it has a rating of 80 percent
Ten user reviews are posted on this website.
Here are the headlines and the ratings offered:
100 percent
** Exceptional
** Shocking, powerful story
** The best foreign language show ever
90 percent
** Compelling
** Across all episodes, top-notch programming
80 percent
** Powerful, harrowing and exceptional
** Really unbelievable and infuriating
** Shocking, but essential viewing
** The victims’ impact statement
** This was great. Thank you, BBC
Five of the ten user reviews offer a rating which is the same as the rating offered by the website. Five of the ten user reviews offer a rating which is higher than the rating offered by the website.
I understand the numerous positive reviews and I agree with them. The story is important. It deserves to be told, and in this drama, it is done very well.
I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).
PS. Jean-Xavier de Lestrade is a well-known French filmmaker. He is the director or producer or writer of several films, including the following:
** Murder on a Sunday Morning (2000)
** Laetitia (2020)
REFERENCES
Sambre
By Alice Géraud
(2023)
Rebecca Nicholson,
“Sambre: Anatomy of a Crime Review,”
The Guardian
31 August 2024
This review offers a positive rating:
Four of five stars (80 percent)
Helen Hawkins,
“Sambre: Anatomy of a Crime, BBC Four Review,”
The Arts Desk
10 September 2024
*****
The well-known French filmmaker
Jean-Xavier de Lestrade
(born 1963)
*****
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