Coup de Torchon

Coup de Torchon
Theatrical poster
Directed by Bertrand Tavernier
Produced by Henri Lassa
Adolphe Viezzi
Written by Bertrand Tavernier
Jean Aurenche
Based on Pop. 1280
by Jim Thompson
Starring Philippe Noiret
Isabelle Huppert
Jean-Pierre Marielle
Music by Philippe Sarde
Cinematography Pierre-Wiliam Glenn
Edited by Armand Psenny
Distributed by Parafrance Films (France)
Biograph Int'l (US)
Release date
  • 4 November 1981 (1981-11-04)
Running time
 128 minutes
Country France
Language French
Box office $16.5 million[1]

Coup de Torchon is a 1981 French film adaptation of Jim Thompson's 1964 novel Pop. 1280, directed by Bertrand Tavernier. The film changes the novel's setting from a West Texas oil boom town to a small town in French West Africa.[2][3] The film had 2,199,309 admissions in France and was the 16th most attended film of the year.[4]

Plot

In a little town in French West Africa in 1938, Lucien Cordier is the only policeman. Unable or unwilling to impose his authority, he is treated with scorn by everybody. His sexy wife Huguette has brought a lover, Nono, to live openly with them, claiming he is her brother. Cordier fancies the mischievous young bride Rose, but lets her brutal husband beat her in the street unchallenged. The head of the timber company, Vanderbrouck, daily insults him for all to see. And the bane of his life is a pair of slimy pimps, who flout the law and enjoy humiliating him.

It is the pimps that take him to the brink, so he gets on a train to consult his superior Chavasson, who tells him to act forcefully. On the train home is the attractive new teacher in town, Anne, to whom he warms immediately. Once back, he catches the two pimps alone and, after shooting both dead, throws the corpses in the river. When Chavasson learns of this, he rushes down to question Cordier, who says it was in effect Chavasson who killed them. Having outwitted his boss and removed his prime tormentors, Cordier starts on the others who have made his life a misery. Vanderbrouck is dropped in a privy and Rose's husband, like the pimps, is shot dead and thrown in the river. When his servant retrieves his master's body and brings it back to the house, Cordier has to kill him as well.

Catching Nono peeping at Anne in the shower, he beats him up in the street. Then he steals the money which his wife had been saving up in order to leave him and goes off to see the newly widowed Rose. Anne and Nono, reckoning that he is going to abscond with Rose and the money, storm round to Rose's and in self-defence Rose shoots both dead. Cordier gives her the money and tells her to get away fast. All he has left in life is Anne, to whom he confesses his general malaise and specific crimes. She is ready to accept him but he says he is now incapable of love. In the closing shot, he is alone under a tree caressing a revolver.

Cast

Awards and honors

  • Academy Awards (USA)
    • Nominated: Best Foreign Language Film[5]
  • César Awards (France)
    • Nominated: Best Actor – Leading Role (Philippe Noiret)
    • Nominated: Best Actor – Supporting Role (Jean-Pierre Marielle)
    • Nominated: Best Actor – Supporting Role (Eddy Mitchell)
    • Nominated: Best Actress – Leading Role (Isabelle Huppert)
    • Nominated: Best Actress – Supporting Role (Stéphane Audran)
    • Nominated: Best Director (Bertrand Tavernier
    • Nominated: Best Editing (Armand Psenny)
    • Nominated: Best Film
    • Nominated: Best Production Design (Alexandre Trauner)
    • Nominated: Best Writing (Jean Aurenche and Bertrand Tavernier)
  • French Syndicate of Cinema Critics (France)

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.jpbox-office.com/fichfilm.php?id=7244
  2. ↑ Farber, Stephen (21 January 1990). "In the Desert, a Jim Thompson Novel Blossoms on Film". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  3. ↑ Maslin, Janet (20 December 1982). "Clean Slate (1981) 'Coup De Torchon,' Life In A French Colony". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  4. ↑ "Coup de torchon (1981)". JPBox-Office. 4 November 1981. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  5. ↑ "The 55th Academy Awards (1983) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
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