Coup de Torchon
The singer Eddy Mitchell, in a major fictional role for the first time, thought he was so bad after watching the dailies that he insisted to do some of his scenes once again. Because no one would agree, he jokingly stated: "since I'm actually the richest one of the crew, I'll pay for all the scenes I'm allowed to do again" and was almost taken seriously. From then on, he never went to watch the dailies again.,Towards the end, Rose is walking on the pier and after they say in a loudspeaker 'Attention! Curfew tonight at 9 o'clock...', she turns around and the shadow of the cameraman can be clearly seen on the ground on her right.,Lucien Cordier: Do you know why dogs sniff each other's butts? When dogs still ruled the world, they held a convention to vote new laws. The head dog said: "I suggest that due to poor hygiene here, our assholes we leave at the door." The dogs agreed and de-assholed. But just then, a tornado blew in and mixed all the assholes up. Not one dog recognized his own. Ever since, they smell each other's asses. And it'll go on till the end of time.,In the opening credits, we are correctly informed that the film is based on the novel "Pop. 1280"; but during the end titles, we are informed that it is based on "Pop. 1275". This is consistent with the official title retained for the translation into French, which is "1275 Ames" (literally: "1275 Souls"), and which reflects the fact that 5 people have died during the course of action.,Featured in Keskiyön auringon kuvat (1987),Bertrand Tavernier has taken the novel "TOP 1280" by Jim Thompson set in North Carolina and produced a riveting French film noir set in Senegal in 1938. At that time it was a French colony that exhibited similar social and racial patterns as in the American South. The use of color and humor add a new dimension to the genre. Tavernier in his comments about the film on the DVD talks about the change in the light in the late afternoon in west Africa. It becomes less intense so he uses pastel colors. Note the light blue walls and the pink shirt of Philippe Noiret who is superb as the village policeman Cordier. Isabelle Huppert who plays the mistress of Cordier with intensity and humor and the other actors make this a must see film. There is much humor in the film but be aware that there are many violent scenes. This is French film noir at it's best.,