Coup de torchon (1981)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Bertrand Tavernier

Writers:

Jean Aurenche (writer)
Bertrand Tavernier (writer)

Release Date:

4 November 1981 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

Plot:

1938, in a French african colony. Lucien Cordier is the cop of this village, populated with blacks and a few whites (usually racialist and lustful)...

Plot Keywords:

Pimp | Police | Colonialism | Murder | Vulgarity

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Philippe Noiret	...	Lucien Cordier
Isabelle Huppert	...	Rose Mercaillou
Jean-Pierre Marielle	...	Le Peron et son frère L'adjudant Georges Le Peron
Stéphane Audran	...	Huguette Cordier
Eddy Mitchell	...	Nono - l'amant demeuré d'Huguette
Guy Marchand	...	Marcel Chavasson
Irène Skobline	...	Anne - la nouvelle institutrice
Michel Beaune	...	Vanderbrouck - un nouveau riche arrogant
Jean Champion	...	Priest
Victor Garrivier	...	Mercaillou
Gérard Hernandez	...	Leonelli
Abdoulaye Diop	...	Fête Nat - le serviteur noir de Lucien
Daniel Langlet	...	Paulo - un flic larvaire
François Perrot	...	Le colonel Tramichel
Raymond Hermantier	...	L'aveugle

Also Known As:

Clean Slate (USA)
Clean Up (UK)

Runtime:

128 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:K-16 | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Avenue Blaise-Diagne, Saint-Louis, Senegal

Company:

Les Films de la Tour

Goofs:

Factual errors: The movie begins with a scene during a total eclipse of the sun. Between 1933 (Hitler comes to power) and 1939 (invasion of France), no path of totality from any solar eclipse touched French West Africa.

Quotes:

Lucien Cordier: You'll manage. I'm sure of that. You could make a mint just doing what you like best, which you do better than any woman I know. And since we'll probably never see each other again, I'll be glad to bang you one last time, even though you're a fugitive.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Zomergasten: (#6.3)" (1993)

European script based on American novel

One of the best films ever on my regard. It is possible that European viewers are more familiar with the colonial history behind it, though the script is based on an American novel (Pop.1280 by Jim Thompson). The original story is based in America, but here it is based in a French-African colony in the 1930's.

The baseline is a global truth: everybody has his breaking point.

Great acting performances by everyone involved.

Don't forget to check out the other films by this French director; he often shows he's one of the best!

And while you're there: some of the best movies (Tati, Resnais, Truffaut...) ever were made in France; so are some of the worst(DO NOT check out French comedies, they are mostly awful)