Tchau Mané

a film noir. it is the most easy definition for a film who escapes to a clear verdict. because it is one of the films who, after the final credits, becomes a state of emotions. sure, the great merit has Coluche. but he is part of an impeccable story, simple, honest, touching, bitter, about friendship and errors of past, appearances and love, justice and purpose of a broken life. a film like a confession. about yourself and about the others. and about the need to escape from yourself doing the right things in the right manner. a story who becomes a state of soul. this is the most important thing for this film. and the basic motif for who it is different. special. a sort of masterpiece out by ordinaries rules.

"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.

In 1984, it was a quite different performer that got the Cesar for best actor, Coluche for "Tchao Pantin". In order to understand this win, one first has to learn who Coluche was.

Coluche was an actor who had established himself as a popular comedian before this film. His humour was quite crude, with him being one of the first French comedians that used swearwords to make jokes. He made fun of the establishment, and some of his jokes can be deemed politically incorrect today (for example, in the 1983 hit film "Banzaï", he made a joke by taking an inhaler from a patient while in the hospital, in order to relax). It should come as a surprise, then, that he accepted such a different role in Tchao Pantin.

At the time of the film's shooting, Coluche was having problems in his personal life. This enabled him to have an even more intense performance that ultimately won him the award.

In this film, he plays a retired police officer, Lambert, who meets a young man in trouble with criminals, played by Richard Anconina. Anconina was at the time one of the newest faces of French cinema, having been revealed through the film "Le battant", with Alain Delon. The pairing of the two actors was done by director Claude Berri, who made "Jean de Florette" two years later.

Claude Berri had worked again with Coluche in some films before this one, one of those being the excellent "Le maître d'école" (1981), in which Coluche played a schoolteacher. This movie not only showed Coluche's talent as a comedian, but also exposed the problems of the French school system in the 80s. It's plot was engaging, and all the actors gave exquisite performances.

The plot of "Tchao Pantin", though, struggles to get the film going. To my mind it didn't seem to have progressed but a little throughout the whole film, making the end seem a bit abrupt. The story revolves around Coluche's character meeting his only friend in the face of Anconina, whom he loses to a murderer. The ensuing pursuit of the perpetrator by Coluche is all that follows, until he finally gets them, at his own cost.

Director Claude Berri tried in this case to make a film noir, but I find his attempt unsuccessful. The film just keeps dragging on, despite the truly impressive performance of Coluche, who clearly deserved the César award. Anconina's acting left me mostly indifferent. Another performance which didn't really have an impact on me was the one by Agnès Soral, who played Anconina's friend, Lola. While wanting to come off as a punk rebel, she actually made the impression of being bored and not caring for anyone except for herself. To me, the causes of her nomination for the César for the best promising actress remain a mystery.

While I mostly pay attention to the music in the films, the score of this one didn't leave me a lasting impression.

In conclusion, "Tchao Pantin" was a lost opportunity by a good director and a well-paired cast to create an engaging film noir. While Coluche may have deserved accolades for his performance, the total result was the one of a film which set expectations that it ultimately couldn't live up to.

Classic dark French psych thriller featuring Coluche, better known for his stand up comedy dressed in blue and white striped dungarees - Andy Pandy style. His acting as the sad middle aged loser Lambert should have earned him an Oscar.

Having lived in the area where the film is set, (and worked in an auto repair shop)the atmosphere and the photography are spot on. Very sad, complex and entertaining.

If you like this, watch Subway and Diva. The title derives from the area where the film is set - Pantin, a working class quarter in North Paris, and should be with first letter in caps.

Unique because it is the only crime movie made by Claude Berri; unique because this is also the only crime movie - and also maybe drama - in which Coluche played, who was a comedy actor ( on stage before going to the cinema industry) ; unique because it is one of the last crime film of the French industry before the arrival of Olivier Marchal, nearly twenty years later. But in the mean time, in 1997, you had LE COUSIN, made by Alain Corneau, and also J'IRAI AU PARADIS CAR L'ENFER EST ICI from Xavier Durringer. So, after the amazing LA BALANCE, TCHAO PANTIN is the French crime genre swan song before eighteen years; thanks to the TV industry with its silly crime detective series that diverted audiences from the theaters. And unique because it is a very gloomy, poignant and realistic crime movie, that grabs you to the guts, the blood, no one human can stay cold in front such a feature. No one. Philippe Leotard excellent in the ambiguous cop character, the cop using Coluche's character to get rid of the mobsters. And the most poignant thing is the untold link between Coluche's character, who lost in son a long time ago, and who begins to consider Richard Anconina's character as a kind of surrogate son. The audience guesses it, understands this, without the need to explain anything by useless dialogues. And maybe also Anconina looks at Coluche as a surrogate father. That's true story telling, and not bla bla bla.