Coup de Torchon (1981)
I admit my reason to pick this was to see a young Isabelle Huppert, and in that sense it was worth watching. However, I probably don’t know enough about France’s colonial past to fully grasp what kind of satire the film is going for, though it’s clear from the tone and dialogue that it’s meant as a black comedy of sorts.
Lucien looks and acts like a harmless, maybe even a shy man, which makes it all the more jarring when he suddenly starts shooting people. It does tie in with its satirical grotesque depiction of colonialism as it highlights the indifference. Most scenes are bright and mostly lightly comedic in tone, which I did find sort of fascinating as a concept for a type of film language. But that fascination gradually declined and I lost most interest in the second half of the film. Definitely a film I feel I need more context to appreciate properly.
Rating: 2.5