Tango

This comic-strip caper sees Leconte taking a truculent detour from his previous wacky explorations of sexual obsession, Monsieur Hire and The Hairdresser's Husband. For this road movie, he bonds together a trio of despicable males: the judge (Noiret), a self-satisfied epicurean; the aviator, Vincent (Bohringer), grounded by guilt for the unpunished murder of his unfaithful wife and her lover; and the pathetic cuckold Paul (Lhermitte), who wishes to kill his wife ('So I can forget her!'). The judge, having fixed Vincent's trial, now blackmails him into killing Paul's wife. They set off south to Valence to do the deed. An absurd Gallic leg-pull, the movie takes sly swipes at psycho-sexual politics - though unlike Buñuel and Blier, Leconte tries less to épate le bourgeoisie than simultaneously to flabbergast and titillate the politically correct. Shot in 'Scope and primary colours, the film delights in attention-grabbing wide-angles, isolating long shots, airplane swoops and car chases. The melancholic undertow is echoed by Leconte's ever idiosyncratic choice of music: here 'sensuous and fateful' tango-rock.