It would be a crime to miss this brilliant Sophie doc
THE NETFLIX documentary on the mystery surrounding the brutal murder of Madame Sophie Toscan du Plantier is a masterclass in true crime docudramas.
This genre of revisiting infamous crimes can all too often be guilty of forgetting the victim and spotlighting suspects. But to the enormous credit of John Dower, who never graces the screen, by remaining off-camera he brought Sophie to life. In reviving her vibrancy he honoured her as the zesty woman she was and veered clear of portraying her as nothing but a victim or her story as a cautionary criminal tale.
There was much to be admired in the documentary, but for me the standout moment was when Dower turned interrogator and put retired Chief Superintendent Dermot Dwyer through a thorough inquisition of his own. His one-liner was small-screen magic when, off-camhas era, we heard Dower, in all the seriousness he could muster, say: ‘Some people use this expression of you as being “The Cork Columbo”. Although we don’t see Dower’s face, I can’t help but hear a stifled giggle.
Looking suitably chuffed with being compared to a legendary – albeit fictional – crime solver, the garda responds humbly, scoffing: ‘Ah Shuuuure, don’t mind that. That’s rubbish. He’s a well-paid man and I’m not.’
Crucially, geography and pay disparity are not the only differentiators between him and Columbo.
Because the one thing we all know about Peter Falk’s TV detective is he always got his man – or woman. Given that the Du Plantier murder seems likely to remain eternally unsolved, that is where the comparison falls down.