Coup de torchon | | Cast : | Philippe Noiret, Isabelle Huppert, Stéphane Audran | | Director : | Bertrand Tavernier | | Studio : | Criterion Collection | | Format : | Color, Widescreen | | Released Date : | January 01, 1981 | | DVD Released Date : | March 13, 2001 | | Language : | English (Subtitled), French (Dubbed) | | Audience Rating : | NR (Not Rated) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | October 09, 2004 | | Summary | Strangely beautiful cinema | Content
 | A strangely beautiful film which works its magic on the viewer from the opening credits of first a black bird, then a sole black African child filling the screen. I was especially taken by the cinematography itself and the use of colour. The mis en scene is almost always a dun or sand or pale brown pastel colour but pierced by small brilliant colours found in such things as a cummerbund, or pocket kerchief, or the singlet of the protagonist or his odd red sock, a green bottle of absinthe in an outside bar, a green light shade at night, or a crimson hat band on soldiers. Added to this is the startlingly effective use of music , a collage of sounds which modify the images rather than compound or complement them providing a tone of tragi-comedy, a kind of comedy noir. There is also a memorable nightmare sequence which the protagonist experiences. As for themes - perhaps that of the scandalous Colonial in another's country, the stranger in a strange land, the decline of the West-
or an ageing Colonial Police Chief searching for the meaning of his life and exacting punishment on those who deserve it, on those that he is able to. The closing moments are quite memorable. Isabelle Huppert reminds one of her rich chameleon talents and is quite brilliant. A marvellous cinematic experience. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 29, 2004 | | Summary | Chilling, Funny Neo-Noir Masterpiece | Content
| This is the film version of Jim Thompson's darkly comic novel "Pop. 1280", only transplanted from Texas to French-colonial Africa circa 1938 (around the time of the disgraceful Munich conference sell-out, for obviously symbolic reasons.) Philippe Noiret is the outwardly bumbling, secretly brilliant sheriff who slowly goes insane from the backwardness and brutality of the life he is forced to endure. Isabelle Huppert, in a type of role you wish she would get more, is spirited and sexy as Noiret's accomplice/victim. Like a good femme fatale, she helps trigger the escalating chain reaction of violence. Astonishing film constantly switches back and forth from black comedy to horror; it keeps you guessing and on edge. You could say it's a mixture of Kafka, Beckett, and good old-fashioned American gonzo, with a Gallic accent. Over the years this sly and scarifying movie has become one of my absolute favorites. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 29, 2004 | | Summary | good scenery, but not very interesting. | Content
| This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film. Coup de Torchon, known also as "Clean Slate" is better translated as "Wipe of the Cloth" as a cloth would clean a slate chalkboard. This film is set in the year 1938 on the eve of World War II and is about a recist white policeman in Senegal, (then called French West Africa) who always looks the other way when a crime is committed. One day he goes berserk and starts killing people. I found this movie to be boring but loved the scenery of the village. The DVD has a US theatrical trailer for a special feature along with an interview with the director and an alternate ending presented by the director. |
| Rating | | | Date | January 24, 2003 | | Summary | A rare blending of genres that nets profound results | Content
| Very unusual movie. I was unprepared for such a strange story. Only after the movie was over did I glimpse Jim Thompson's name in the credits and it dawned on me so that is what I have been watching. Thompson's name is synonymous with hard-boiled noir and if you like that genre then this is for you though the setting will throw even the most ardent noir fan for a bit of a loop. Noir in Africa? Phillips Noiret plays the sherrif of a West African town in the thrall of the worst kind of colonialism. Unforunately he's not much of a law and order man. In fact he is completely ineffective at administering any kind of justice whatsoever. Blacks are brutally mistreated right in front of him and he does nothing. Hes the sherrif only in name and at home he is abused by his wife played by Stephane Audran who does not hide the fact she is sleeping with her live-in "brother". The sherriff takes all kinds of abuse til one day he reaches his breaking point. He decides he's had enough and so he begins administering his own brand of "justice". In a western movie or in a gritty American noir this kind of scenario would seem commonplace but not in the middle of sunny Africa. Noirs aren't supposed to be exposed to sunlight, are they? The novel was set in the American South but Tavernier decided he would transplant the story in African soil. Its a film that is hard to fathom. I believe it takes at least one viewing to get used to the idea of an African Noir and then another to see just what Tavernier is up to. So I would highly recommend anyone see the film twice before making up their mind about it. One thing is undoubtedly certain and that is the acting. The performances by Noiret, Audran, and Isabelle Huppert(one of her most stunning vacant faced roles) are perfect and the most fascinating aspect of the film is watchng each unwind. Even those who don't normally have a taste for noir will find this very dark comedy quite compelling. On first viewing I felt there was something missing like at least one strong black character but then I realized on second viewing that that is part of the power of this comedy. These characters are so selfish it matters very little to them where they are. And so the abscence of black characters and the abscence of any interaction between whites and blacks except on the most superficial and degrading terms underlines the utter selfishness of the whites. The blacks going about their business largely ignored by the whites offer a subtle comparison. The blacks live humane lives. The whites are only capable of committing crimes against each other. If you are part of the white community in such circumstances you become corrupt if not for what you yourself do for what you refuse to see as the underlying injustice of the circumstance you see and participate in everyday. The circumstance is a timebomb. Noiret as the sherrif is the one who goes off. He acts out against white hate and anger and bigotry only to become infected himself by those very properties. So at first I was unsure but ultimately I marveled at what Tavernier did with this noir material. He gave the material the very dimension it lacked, a social dimension. By placing this noir in a strikingly new context the typical noir theme (being the darkness of human nature) is given a more specific context and scope (the darkness of colonial mans nature). Tavernier brings new life and significance to the commonplaces of Thompsons fiction and more importantly he brings a new approach and new insight to the colonial predicament. |
| Rating | | | Date | August 09, 2002 | | Summary | un-american | Content
| I am mainly disappointed with the Yank reviews - did they read Jim Thompson at all? Yeah - the PULP FICTION movie is great for them but not the real "pulp fiction". It would be a surprise if Tavernier did a "Martin Eden" or "Iron Heel" and folks would label it "pulp fiction" as well. How about "Les Miserables", huh ? A pulp fiction ? Let's go on and on...
Get fiction in the wrong hands and you have a disaster right away, say Sir Spielberg, as an example, he's the master of the "hokey", lately.
This film proves the ages old wisdom that good films are made of mediocre novels, like "The Informer", "The Shop on Main Street" etc., while the great script of classical "belles lettres" remain beyond reach of the infantile contemporaries. |
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