So Long, Stooge

So Long, Stooge
So Long, Stooge film poster
Directed by	Claude Berri
Written by	Alain Page (novel) Claude Berri
Produced by	Pierre Grunstein
Starring	Coluche Philippe Léotard Agnès Soral
Cinematography	Bruno Nuytten
Edited by	Hervé de Luze
Distributed by	AMLF
Release date	21 December 1983 (1983-12-21)
Running time	100 minutes
Language	French
Box office	€32.5 million

So Long, Stooge (French title: Tchao Pantin) is a 1983 film directed by Claude Berri. It is based on a novel by Alain Page.

Coluche, the lead, won the César Award for Best Actor. The film was selected as the French entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 57th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.

Plot

Lambert, a withdrawn middle-aged man, works the night shift at a Parisian petrol station. He has no friends, no family; his only companion is his bottle of rum. One night, a young Arab man, Bensoussan, enters his shop — and his life. This stranger has also no family, lives alone in a dingy room, and scrapes together a living as a drug dealer. The two solitary men develop a friendship — but this is brutally brought to an end when Bensoussan is killed in front of Lambert. Lambert soon realises that his new friend was murdered by his drug dealing associates and sets out to avenge his death — assisted by Lola, a punk girl who knew Bensoussan briefly. By doing this, Lambert manages to come to terms with his own tragic past.

Cast

• Coluche as Lambert
• Richard Anconina as Bensoussan
• Agnès Soral as Lola
• Philippe Léotard as Bauer
• Ahmed Ben Ismaël as Mahmoud

See also

• List of submissions to the 57th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
• List of French submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

External links

• So Long, Stooge at IMDb