Films I Love #26: Coup de torchon (Bertrand Tavernier, 1981)

Bertrand Tavernier's Coup de torchon is a darkly humorous satire that transplants film noir tropes to colonial Africa, where the local colonial French police officer, Lucien Cordier (Philippe Noiret), is the laughing stock of his village. He's a kind, decent man, sympathetic to the black locals. Indeed, he's one of the few white people in the area willing to defend the humanity and honor of the