With this existential crime thriller, legend of French cinema Bertrand Tavernier transforms Jim Thompsons hard-boiled novelPop. 1280into a darkly comic, philosophically provocative exploration of the brutality and absurdity of colonialism. Moving the storys setting from the American South to 1930s French West Africa,Coup de torchonfeatures a frighteningly enigmatic performance from Philippe Noiret as a police chief whose seeming ineptitude masks a cold-blooded pursuit of revenge and control that draws his opportunistic mistress (a fiery Isabelle Huppert) into an escalating spiral of violence. With each chilling revelation, Tavernier plunges us ever deeper into an abyss of madness and corruption, laying bare the decaying soul of empire.FILM INFOFrance1981128 minutesColor1.66:1FrenchSpine #106BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURESNew 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrackInterview from 2001 with director Bertrand TavernierNew interview with critic and poet Robert Polito about source-novel author Jim ThompsonMaking-of program featuring on-set footage and interviews with members of the cast and crewAlternate endingTrailersNew English subtitle translationPLUS: An essay by scholar Lynn Anthony HigginsNew cover by Sean Phillips