On the edge of the night

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Movie
German title On the edge of the night
Original title Tchao pantin
Country of production France
original language French
Publishing year 1983
length 100 minutes
Rod
Director Claude Berri
script Claude Berri
Alain Page
production Pierre Grunstein
music Charlélie Couture
camera Bruno Nuytten
cut Hervé de Luze
occupation

On the edge of the night (Original title: Tchao pantin ) is a French drama directed by Claude Berri from 1983.

action

Lambert was once a police officer in the drug search. After the death of his son and the divorce from his wife, he gave up his job and since then has been working as a gas station attendant, has been lonely over the years and drinks. One day he meets the young Youssef Bensoussan, who visits him more and more often, always has another stolen motorcycle with him and becomes friends with Lambert. He tells him that he works in a bar when he is actually a drug dealer. One day when Lambert sees him smoking a joint, he slaps him in the face. Bensoussan reacts angrily that Lambert has his own drug with alcohol.

One day when Bensoussan is secretly out and about on his boss Rachid's motorcycle, he meets the young punk Lola, whom he takes on a jaunt. Both agree to meet again. Lambert advises him against Lola and forbids him to drive to the meeting point on Rachid's motorcycle. Bensoussan breaks with him because he doesn't want any rules. In the end, Lola relocates him and Rachid's men beat up Bensoussan because he was illegally driving Rachid's motorcycle. Because Bensoussan no longer shows up at the gas station, Lambert looks for him. He finds it covered in blood and treats it. At a second meeting of Bensoussan and Lola, they sleep together and then drive through Paris on a stolen motorcycle. When the police stop them for not wearing a helmet, Bensoussan beats the policeman and escapes. Lola breaks up with him. Bensoussan tells Lambert about the incident and confesses that he is really a drug dealer. Lambert doesn't care. A short time later, Bensoussan discovers that his drug stash has been emptied. He now owes a lot to Rachid. Desperate, he turns up at Lambert's, who gives him all the money from his coffers and also offers to raise the rest of his salary. In the evening, Bensoussan appears in a panic at Lambert's. He is pursued by two men who eventually drag him behind on their motorcycles and seriously injure him. Lambert pours gasoline on both of them. The two men race into another car; an explosion occurs. Bensoussan, in turn, dies in Lambert's arms.

Shortly afterwards, Lambert meets Inspector Bauer, who asks him how the accident happened. Lambert states that the two men's motorcycle was apparently out of control. He takes leave and goes to Chez Rachid , which is run by Rachid. Then he goes to the punk disco Gibus , where he finds Lola. He tells her that Bensoussan is dead and that he needs her help to find the murderer Mahmoud, one of Rachid's henchmen. At first she refuses to work with him, but then comes to him at night. She finds out where Mahmoud lives and Lambert shoots him. The next morning Lola is still with Lambert. He throws her out. Bauer appears. He speaks to Lambert about his past as a police officer, but he has finished with his past. Lambert learns that his representative was tortured and killed at the gas station by Rachid's men. Apparently the men actually wanted to murder him. In addition, Bauer indicates that the phantom image of the murderer Mahmoud looks like him. Bauer leaves when Lola appears. She introduces herself to him as Lambert's lover and stays when Lambert tries to send her away again. At night Lambert goes to Rachid, whom he watches when his bar closes, forces him inside and shoots him there. Then he sets a fire in Chez Rachid . Bauer reappears shortly afterwards at Lambert. He is surprised that the drug ring, which the police have been trying to destroy for years, has now been blown up in this way by an unknown person. He tells Lambert about a conscience Sylvio, who in turn was the drug agent for Rachid. He gives him the address, but Lambert pretends not to be interested in Sylvio. When Bauer officially asks him where he was on the night of Rachid's death, Lola gives him an alibi: they both slept together all night.

The next evening Lambert goes to Sylvio, but does not kill the frightened young man, just spits at him. He spends the night with Lola, to whom he tells about the death of his son. At the time, he was a tough cop who severely punished his son when he started using drugs at the age of 16. His son ran away one day and died a little later as a result of an overdose. Since then, he has been dead inside and longing for his end. The next morning they both go out of the house. Lola briefly returns to the apartment and on her return sees Lambert being shot from the street while standing in the doorway. She rushes to him screaming, grabs his pistol and, in turn, begins firing shots while standing in the doorway.

production

On the Edge of the Night is based on the novel Tchao Pantin by Alain Page, who was also involved in the script. The film was shot in Paris . Sylvie Gautrelet created the costumes and Alexandre Trauner designed the film . The film opened in French cinemas on December 21, 1983 and was also released in German cinemas on January 18, 1985.

criticism

In 1985, Der Spiegel ruled that the film was a "weak story" and that it was haunted. Coluche acted "with the same bull eye and petrified gabinism." For Prisma , Am Rande der Nacht was an "extremely exciting French crime film" and for Cinema a "taciturn, atmospheric film noir".

Awards

On the Edge of the Night , five Césars won in 1984 : in the categories of Best Leading Actor (Coluche), Best Supporting Actor (Richard Anconina), Best Young Actor (Richard Anconina), Best Cinematography (Bruno Nuytten) and Best Sound ( Jean Labussière , Gérard Lamps ). He was also nominated for seven other Césars: in the categories of Best Film (Claude Berri), Best Supporting Actor (Agnès Soral), Best Young Actress (Agnès Soral), Best Director (Claude Berri), Best Adapted Screenplay (Claude Berri), Best Film Music (Charlélie Couture) and Best Production Design (Alexandre Trauner).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Arnd Schirmer: Kiez in the rain . In: Der Spiegel , No. 4, 1985, p. 137.
  2. ↑ On the edge of the night. In: prisma.de . Retrieved November 21, 2017 .
  3. ↑ See cinema.de