Tonight on TV: The film that made Serge Gainsbourg’s “Le Requiem pour un c…”

In 1968, Georges Lautner directed Le Pacha, for which he wrote the screenplay with his regular collaborators Michel Audiard and Albert Simonin, based on Jean Laborde’s novel of the same name.

Headlining actor Jean Gabin himself enlists the services of Serge Gainsbourg, with whom he had already worked on Le Jardinier d’Argenteuil, to compose the film’s soundtrack and appear in his own role. Known for his songwriting talent at the time, Gainsbourg still struggled to find success as a singer. Title Requiem for a geekwhich serves as a generic is a game changer.

Indeed, before its theatrical release, Pasha Goes before the Censor Board, sickened by its violence and negative image of the police. Requiem for a geek It also draws the ire of censors, who consider the text “obscene and scandalous.” The banning of the song on radio waves caused the indignation of Jean Gabin, who did not hesitate to inform the then Minister of the Interior, Christian Fouche.

On the other hand, Georges Lautner does not allow himself to be dismantled, and after a new editing, which weakens the brutality of the main character, the film goes from the prohibition of the age of 18 to the prohibition of the age of 13. And to prove that the public was not too shocked, the film registered 2 million receipts.

With an average viewer rating of 3.8 out of 5 on AlloCiné, Pasha is a good old-fashioned French thriller that, in addition to its raucous soundtrack, relies on the charisma of the monolithic Jean Gabin and the always sharp dialogue of Michel Audiard.

Pasha Georges Lautner with Jean Gabin, Danny Carell, Jean Geven…

from the age of 10

Tonight on W9 at 9.05pm.