‘L.627’

France’s formidable Bertrand Tavernier puts his mastery of storytelling to a severe test in this 1992 film. He succeeds triumphantly in involving us completely in a story with virtually no exposition or plot and which takes 145 minutes to tell. He straightaway plunges us into the grinding everyday existence of a veteran narcotics cop nicknamed Lulu (Didier Bezace, pictured with Lara Guirao), a quietly dedicated man who becomes part of an ill-equipped drug squad headquartered in a cramped prefab structure. He and his good-humored, conscientious colleagues have created a warm camaraderie in the face of their hotheaded and cynical boss (Jean-Paul Comart). Along with taking us on a trip through Paris’ seamiest, Tavernier, in making one of his best films, is modestly saluting a decent cop intent upon doing his job despite a demoralizing police bureaucracy (Cinemax Wednesday at 8 p.m.).