Clean Slate

To say that novelist Jim Thompson has been badly served by American directors would be something of an understatment as the only worthwhile version to emerge from Hollywoodland, 'The Grifters', is directed by Englishman Stephen Frears. Apart from that, one has to look to France for the two adaptations that capture Thompson's spirit and do him justice, namely 'Série Noire' of Alain Corneau, based upon 'A hell of a Woman' and 'Coup de Torchon', adapted by director Betrand Tavernier and legendary screenwriter Jean Aurenche from 'Pop 1280' with the setting transposed from Texas to Senegal.

The change of location to French West Africa is inspired as it suits perfectly Thompson's bleak view of the human condition with its lazy, morally vacuous, corrupt colonial officials and assorted low lifes. The linchpin of the film is the transformation of complacent police chief Cordelier from buffoon to judge, jury and executioner. He is so cleverly played by Tavernier's favourite actor, the superlative Philippe Noiret, that one can neither condone nor condemn him nor dismiss him as a lunatic. Audiences through the years have shown their admiration for vigilantes but for this viewer at any rate, any regard for Cordelier's actions are soon diminished.

Noiret's superb performance is complemented by those of Isabelle 'super' Huppert as his horny-as-hell mistress, Stéphane Audran as his unfaithful wife, Guy Marchand as his bigoted superior and the always good value Jean Pierre Marielle again showing his versatility by playing two brothers. Irene Skobline plays the schoolteacher whose comparative innocence attracts Cordelier and it is a great pity that her film career did not progress any further.

The cruelty and cynicism of the piece is balanced by the visual elegance one has come to expect from this director, whilst the production design is by Alexandre Trauner and the sun-drenched cinematography by Pierre William Glenn who also shot the aforementioned 'Série Noire'. Although the steadicam has been over used in recent years it is here extremely effective.

Throughout the 1970's Tavernier had come to be regarded as a 'humanist' director so this came as something of a surprise. It proved a commercial but not a critical success. It is an ambiguous, unsettling, fascinating film and now that nations have been forced to come to terms with their colonial past, it is more relevant than ever.