Coluche

Tchao Pantin aka So Long, Stooge

by
Lambert with a cigarette

It’s a lousy title, in English anyway. So Long, Stooge – Tchao Pantin in the original French. Might be better as See You, Loser? Anyhow, it’s a rather unusual sort of film – part one a love story of sorts, part two a revenge thriller – tied together by Coluche, a French comedy actor way off his turf here. Coluche took the gig because he needed to pay the taxman but the choice of roles turns out to be inspired. His knack for a particularly French sort of shrugging deadpan serves him well, especially in the first half, when his Lambert first meets and befriends Youssef Bensoussan (Richard Anconina), an Arab street dude on … Read more

The Wing or the Thigh

by
Charles and Gérard Duchemin

So here’s the best performing domestic film at the French box office in 1976. The Wing or the Thigh (L’aile ou la cuisse) also did well against foreign competition, coming in second overall to Les Dents de la mer (Teeth of the Sea, literally), as Jaws was called in France. It’s a lively farce set in the world of the restaurant, more specifically the world of the restaurant guide, with Louis de Funès playing Charles Duchemin, the big noise behind the Guide Duchemin, the bible that hands out stars to the aspiring and the established and can make or break a reputation. The Michelin is the obvious idea – the colours and the … Read more