63 Tchao Pantin

[Finch]

Bensoussan (Richard Anconina) is a small-time drug pusher in the 18th Arrondissement of Paris. Being trailed by suspicious patrol cops he takes refuge in a petrol station and strikes up a conversation with night manager Lambert (Coluche). As Bensoussan continues to drop in on Lambert they develop a friendship. But it isn't long before problems arise for Bensoussan and Lambert feels a responsibility to the the young tearaway. Slick and stunningly shot by Bruno Nuytten (Possession), this rain-soaked neo-noir was a multiple winner at the French César Academy Awards taking home acting prizes for both leads, the film anchored by their tender performances. A tale of friendship and revenge set within the fatalistic noir framework, Claude Berri's Tchao Pantin was a box office smash in France. Radiance Films is proud to present Tchao Pantin on Blu-ray for the first time outside of France from a glorious 4K restoration supervised by Nyutten.

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES

4K restoration by Pathé approved by cinematographer Bruno Nuytten
Uncompressed mono PCM audio
Once Upon a Time… Tchao Pantin - A documentary on the film featuring interviews with writer-director Claude Berri, novelist Alain Page, stars Richard Anconina, Mahmoud Zemmouri, Agnés Soral, cinematographer Bruno Nyutten and others (2003, 55 mins)
More to be confirmed
Trailer
Newly improved English subtitle translation
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Filippo Di Battista
Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Manuela Lazic

[domino harvey]

FYI this film is available in an English-subbed region-free Blu-ray from France as part of a five film Coluche box set (all with subs) for like $50

[tenia]

Wondering if they'll color-correct this quite Eclair'd restoration though (and keep the "approved by Nuytten" blurb !).

[domino harvey]

Wondering if they'll color-correct this quite Eclair'd restoration though (and keep the "approved by Nuytten" blurb !).

A good point-- they should start advertising any of these regrettable transfers they color-correct, as it really can be a selling point!

[tenia]

True enough ! But I suspect rightholders and restoration labs might not all be happy realising how many of the expertly graded and referent-ly approved restorations actually require such work. For instance, I forgot about it as I didn't particularly like the movie, but Big Guns also seems to have been color corrected. Elegant Beast also has a different grading (massively different at that) than the French BD (same restoration), and Working Class Goes to Heaven and Fill Er Up with Super also were corrected. And that's not taking B&W movies into account ! (Some restorations have dreadfully poor black levels, which Radiance corrected, like Witness in the City) It's starting to make quite a list.

If anything, it shows how many restorations are concerned and how these issues can be at least attenuated as what is now seemingly routine for a home video label (and that's quite a sad thing to realise as it definitely shouldn't be up to a home video label to have the grading right - or at least not obviously wrong).

[ryannichols7]

do the two of you like this movie? it's totally new to me

[domino harvey]

Haven’t watched it yet, but I only just received the Coluche box set. It was already in my radar from the Cesar Awards project. Coluche is an interesting figure, I have to imagine one of the forthcoming extras will be focused on him. He was kind of a French Belushi who ran for President and actually started to garner enough votes that he was “encouraged” to drop out of the race. Despite his heft, he was also an avid motorcyclist (which led to his death at a young age— though there are conspiracies that he was assassinated!) and gave Miou-Miou her stage name

[tenia]

I used to like it quite a lot, but I've grown indifferent to it. I think it's not a poorly made movie, but I like less and less its script, that feels more artificial and superficial each time I watch it.

He was kind of a French Belushi who ran for President and actually started to garner enough votes that he was “encouraged” to drop out of the race. Despite his heft, he was also an avid motorcyclist (which led to his death at a young age— though there are conspiracies that he was assassinated!) and gave Miou-Miou her stage name

His public figure and his career are both filled enough to write books about it, and he left a huge mark in the French culture, not the least by starting Les restos du coeur, a charity based on the idea that nobody in a country such as France should be hungry or left outside in the cold, and it's a charity that still lives on (sadly, in a way) as of today and has become probably one of the most renown charity in France, at a level similar to the Red Cross.
He also was friends (and sometimes a complicated friend) with quite a lot of popular French comedians, in particular Patrick Dewaere (very complicated story), but also the Splendid.
And yeah, he was popular enough at some point to run for President in 81, supported by Bourdieu and Deleuze, but it's always been said he's withdrawn his candidature because of pressures against him (and there has been concrete proofs that the then-Central Directorate of General Intelligence got orders from the then-Prime Minister to find dirt against him).

I don't think all his jokes aged well (far from it), but he was a very popular working-class figure and what he did IRL tended to accredit it was sincere. Tchao Pantin is consensually considered as being his best role/movie, far away from his usual comedic style (close to what De Funes would do), and I still think it is, but I'm just not so fond of it anymore (and do tend, in the end, to prefer Coluche's comedies, particularly L'aile ou la cuisse - with De Funes - and Inspecteur la Bavure - with Depardieu -).

[ryannichols7]

wow, if nothing else his story sounds as fascinating as the film might be! I find it interesting how a lot of the comedies in other cultures* don't do as well in the US/UK...much like Fran mentioned when putting out the Commedia all'Italiana box. they sound very interesting to me, but who knows if there will actually be a shot at seeing them over here. appreciate both of your thoughts on anything French that I haven't gotten to see yet

(*-curiously, while making my Kino sale purchase last night, I was digging into this forum's love for Has Anybody Seen My Gal?, so maybe it's not just limited to other cultures. we should all lighten up and laugh more!)

[CSM126]

Tchao Beaver

[Drucker]

I absolutely adored the first part of this film. I was never quite sure where it was going, but the two main characters having this affection for each other, brought together by chance, with a natural amount of bonding was really enjoyable and well-done. Before you learn more about the backstory, there is clearly a heartfelt father/son relationship here and at one point in the movie

SpoilerShow

I assumed that may be the twist!

But I'm not sure the ending really does it for me. The plot suddenly turns quite violent. I'm not sure why the girl needs to be involved or why he visits his Bensoussan's apartment after he dies? If he's in actuality a master detective, why are these decisions made? As more information about the backstory is revealed at what feels like a pretty rapid pace (especially compared to the calmness of the first half of the film) we may get more motivation from the character but the film is almost more enjoyable before you really know what the character's motivations are. At the end, I was almost with it, and enjoyed that he didn't assassinate the leader of the drug ring, but then a literal black cat crosses Lambert's path in the last minute and I had to roll my eyes.

[therewillbeblus]

I never bought into the friendship in the first place so the film lost me at the outset, and yeah, didn’t get any better when it turned into another movie

[Finch]

I tuned out in the second half. The only thing that continued to resonate was Colouche but the film around him falls apart. The girl becomes redundant and

SpoilerShow

the film uses too many cutaways to pictures of dead loved ones to belabor the point of what he saw in the Arab kid

. Everything turns obvious and a bit trite. The first half wasn't sensational by any means but I was drawn in. Got to agree with dom that Radiance's French selections have been a bit iffy for me, apart from the Ventura film from World Noir 1 (and even that film hinges on a plot turn that it doesn't totally sell for me). Also, not a fan of Truffaut but at least Fran's Japanese genre titles have been rewarding.

[therewillbeblus]

They started out strong with Fill 'er Up with Super, but it's been mostly downhill