Bertrand Tavernier is one of my favorite French director and Philippe Noiret is my favorite French actor. Having said that, it's pretty hard for me to remain coherent when I talk about Coup de torchon, simply because I love it so much. When I saw it for the first time, I wasn't expected such a slap in the face. The first Tavernier film I have ever seen in my life was L627 at the theater and I was only 12 years old. I didn't understand it because I was so young, but when I discovered Coup de Torchon years later, I said to myself that I had to watch L627 again, which I did, and I thought it was a great film also. Coup de Torchon is an adaptation of Jim Thompson's book Pop. 1280, a pioneer in the Noir genre, famous for The Killing, The killer inside me and The Getaway. Coup de Torchon is a very odd film. A strange mix of comedy and revenge thriller. A sort of Film Noir with a tad of comical and grotesque elements in it. Telling the story of Lucien Cordier in the historical context of a small French colonial town of Africa makes the film a lot more original and convincing, and takes the Film Noir genre to a hole new level of excellence. It's dark and violent, but it's also a really fun film to watch, maybe because Noiret and Hupper make such an amazing match. I love the scenery of the film, the dialogues and the surreal and jazzy Philippe Sarde soundtrack. I think this is an incredible film, probably one of Tavernier's best.
Review of Clean Slate
