So Long, Stooge (1983)

Thanks to ARTE TV I could see now Claude Berri's 'film noir' Tchao Pantin (or So Long, Stooge in its English version) starring Coluche in the lead role. The film was made in 1983, at a time when I was busy with changing the course of my life, and no wonder I missed it. It represents a milestone in the career of both Claude Berry who after this film took a three years break in order to create his two best known films - Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring - very different in subject and style, and also in the career of Coluche who assumes here a more 'classical' and fully dramatic role which could have been a changing point in his career. One year later however, Coluche will die in a motorcycle accident, and this film includes involuntarily kind of a premonitory coincidence as motorcycles and death play a key role in it.The story is quite a typical 'film noir' intrigue, with the key characters - a drunkard gas petrol pump seller who hides secrets of a previous tragic life and a loser type of small drug dealer of Moroccan origin who hides his own secrets among which a shelve full of books he claims to have read all, are getting together in a world were there is not much to attach to but maybe a peer similarly broken soul. There is also a girl in the film, a punk girl (we are in the early 80s, remember) but her role will become more clear only in the second part, after the younger character is murdered and the quiet and withdrawn older man engages on the path of finding the killers and revenging his friends. Typical intrigue, as I said, which has little chances to end otherwise than it ends.As a reader of the 'serie noir' books since childhood I cannot avoid falling under the charm of such stories, especially when they take place in Paris, here a Paris of decrepit houses, or messy small flats, of dangerous streets and dubious bars where everything is trafficked. I was not that surprised to find out that the cinematography belongs to Bruno Nuytten the director of Camille Claudel which I have also seen and written about recently, a film that had an amazing cinematographic look. Coluche seems in this film like having taken inspiration from other Big Silent tough guys in the history of the French cinema, his role could have been played in other times and other periods of their respective careers by screen monsters like Michel Simon or Jean Gabin. I liked the performance of Agnès Soral as the young punk girl whose profile and appearance seems to announce a quarter a century early the character of Lisbeth Salander in the Scandinavian 'Millennium' saga. While the story has been played too many times before and after this film to surprise anybody nowadays, there are many good reasons to watch or watch again this movie.

26 years later, the movie still has a cult on its own in France (and maybe in some other countries, I'm not aware of that).Of course the fact that Coluche, a famous french comedy and stand-up artist, died too soon at 42 (in 1986, 3 years after the movie was released) is no stranger to that... not to mention it was his very first (and last) dark role - a deadbeat gas station employee in Paris seeking revenge -and somewhat redemption- by hunting down the killers who murdered his only friend, a young lowlife drug dealer.Some lazy critics here and there mentioned there was some kind of Melville, Cassavetes and Scorsese influences in the movie but to me, they couldn't be more wrong. Take a close look at it and you won't find any trace of "Taxi Driver" or "Gloria" in it, despite Claude Berri, the director, has tried so hard to put some of these influences in his film.It's basically a classic urban drama in 2 distinct parts (the "bound of trust / friendship" part 1 and the "hunt/revenge/redemption" part 2, seen in many movies before and after this one) but the tremendous ghost-like interpretation of Coluche (who was facing drug addiction and sentimental issues at the time) and the extraordinary master work of D.P. Bruno Nuytten took it all to rocket the movie to critic and commercial success.Even if a few script holes might bother some viewers (especially a detective character -called Bauer- who seems to appear/disappear only to provide informations) the wandering of these shadow-like characters won't be forgotten for a long time… and the very ending could ruin your day. Or even your week.

Director Claude Berri was often criticized for having tried this "film noir". However, I am not sure if "Tchao Pantin" is a proper film noir. After all, I wonder if this misunderstanding is the reason, why this movie is rated only by a few hundreds of people, and, most of all, why it is still not available on international DVD. The latter is the more astonishing, since Coluche has in French almost the status of a saint. But it is even worse: In the U.S., there is actually not one Coluche-movie available on DVD, although he acted at the side of Louis de Funes, Isabelle Huppert and other international stars. Coluche definitely needs to be reborn for the international audiences; he was a truly unique clown, comedian, actor and an outstanding human being, who is revered for good reason in France.People who know about Coluche's short life may wonder if he is really acting in this movie, or if he did not rather bring a good part of his personality into "Tchao Pantin". Yet, however it may be, two more reasons did not make it easier for this wonderful and sublime movie to make its way around the world. First, the title which is not translated in English, because it is not translatable. A "pantin" is a jumping Jack, and most people do not understand, why Coluche is a jumping Jack. Consequently, the title has been newly invented in many foreign versions. For example, in German, it is called "Am Rande der Nacht" ("At the edge of the night") and thus settled into a borderline region which has many times proved to be a reservoir of imagination in literature as well as in film. Second, from the assumption that this is a film noir one would interpret what Lambert-Coluche is doing in this movie as a series of revenge. Is it really so? In order not to spoil the movie, let me just say that Lambert realizes, after having killed the murderer of Bensoussan, that behind the small fishes there are bigger fishes. Consistently, Lambert then goes after the bigger ones, until he reaches the point where he finds himself trapped in the net of these fishes. However, Lambert does not seek for simple revenge. He is obsessed by the idea that he can exterminate evil by consistently going to the end. Charles Sanders Peirce wrote: "He who would not sacrifice his own soul to save the whole world, is, as it seems to me, illogical in all his inferences, collectively. Logic is rooted in the social principle". Lambert is consistent, no doubt, and I am convinced that this movie substitutes ethics by logic. However, there are the paradoxes that arise from logic proper, and in the end the killer gets killed. Does "Tchao Pantin" mean that in society somebody who strictly follows logic is a jumping Jack?

"Tchao Pantin" is a great movie. Its characters are all down to earth and have real feelings. Lambert, the burn-out alcoholic who works at the gas station befriends Bensoussan, a small-time pusher. The story goes on about their friendship, but breaks off into a new level when Bensoussan is killed. Lambert's not sure to risk his life and avenge him, but the perseverance of Bensoussan's latest girlfriend, Lola, convinces him. Even though the movie might run a little slow at times, it nevertheless exceeds in giving off exciting vibes (action and great dialogue). It's an interesting movie about a somewhat awkward relationship, but it works. It's the best thing about it. Side note, I'm just a little confused about the title and what it stands for. Anyway, you should really check it out, and you might even see an adaptation of it in a few years.