So Long, Stooge

In 1982, during a train trip, producer Christian Spillmaecker read several novels, including Tchao Pantin by Alain Page, recently published.[2] Spillmaecker was thrilled by the story of Lambert, a depressed former cop turned pump attendant, determined to find the murderers of a small dealer whom he identifies with his son.[2] The producer passed the book to Claude Berri at the last minute. Although not very enthusiastic, Berri saw in Lambert a role for Coluche, with whom he had filmed Le Pistonné and The Schoolmaster (Berri also produced a few films with Coluche) and bought the rights to the novel.[2] He passed the subject to the actor who at first refused such a dark role.[2]

According to Fred Romano, Coluche's partner at the time, the latter "was full of complexes" and did "not want to be caught in a game where he was not in control".[2] However, Coluche facing a large tax debt, signed to play Lambert, but his heart was not in it. Indeed, the actor was going through a bad patch: his wife Véronique left him with their two children and his friend Patrick Dewaere committed suicide with the rifle presented to him by Coluche.[2] Gnawed by remorse and heartache, undermined by debt, Coluche plunged into drugs.[2] This bad patch was going to deepen his portrayal of the character.[2]

The role of young Bensoussan, a small dealer who befriends Lambert, was entrusted to Richard Anconina, then little known to the general public. The role of Lola, a young punk who fell in love with Bensoussan and then Lambert, was given to Agnès Soral, who had filmed under the direction of Berri in A Moment of Distraction. The police officer in charge of the investigation is portrayed by Philippe Léotard.

Shooting began on 9 May 1983 at Paris[3] with the sets provided by Alexandre Trauner. The gas station, which has disappeared since[4] (illuminated with neon, which was suggested by the chief operator Bruno Nuytten), was located rue Pajol, a stone's throw from the La Chapelle metro station[5] The film was also shot in Belleville.[5]

Shot at night in a deliberately gloomy atmosphere, the making of the film was complicated by Coluche whose condition sometimes forces it to be filmed from behind.[2] In addition, the actor did not take off his gas station attendant jacket outside of the shoot.[6] Soral, to blend in with her role, lived the life of a punk and lost weight.[2] The actress, in an interview with Figaro more than thirty years after the film's release, said that she became friendly with Coluche.[7] According to Soral, who was not aware of Coluche's discomfort during the filming, the actors were in pain: besides Coluche, Anconina was coming out of a love affair, just like Léotard, who had just separated from Nathalie Baye, but also Berri who was going through a complicated sentimental episode.[7]

The slap that Coluche gives to Richard Anconina was very real, the latter said in an interview to Europe1.[8] At first, however, Coluche had not dared to hit him hard enough and the latter then asked him to give him a real slap.[8][9]

The punk concert sequence takes place at the "Gibus" (then called "Le Petit Gibus", described in the film as "a bar of punks at République”), a tiny Parisian concert hall known at the time to be the CBGB's Parisian. The group that stars in the movie are a famous punk band from the 1980s, "The Horde", and their singer Gogol Premier.[9][10]

The shots in the infamous districts of the north of Paris went not without a hitch, due to the embarrassment that the film crew caused for petty trafficking, but arrangements were finally made.[2]