Sententious moral tale about the breakdown of civilized behavior in French colonial Africa, just before World War II. Comic-strip caricatures, in place of rounded characters, are not much use in a moral tale, however. They and their escapades are so determinedly loony that no tension can be built around them: we just watch and shrug. The mousy manipulator at the center of things is an interesting character when in his mousy mode, if only because mousiness goes rather oddly with his position as Chief of Police. His manipulativeness, however, which does not stop short of cold-blooded murder and goes rather oddly with his mousiness, can only be washed down with great gulps of abstract philosophy. Philippe Noiret, Stephane Audran, Isabelle Huppert; written by Jean Aurenche and Bertrand Tavernier; directed by Tavernier. (1982) — Duncan Shepherd
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