Momo and Ernest

So you got two thugs, Momo and Ernest, sitting in a car, discussing matters of love and the dick. Seen it before? Could be a Tarantino flick or the latest Guy Ritchie work, nah, you got classic Francois Truffaut circa 1960. The film is Tirez sur le Pianiste, aka Shoot the Pianist. A slice of American pulp noir from author David Goodis, adapted into a lowlife Parisian setting by New Wave French director Truffaut.

Differentiated only by a bowler hat and a slouch Kangol style, the two smoking pipe men chase down their prey, brother of main character, Edward Saroyan. Thing is these two guys are fuck ups. They can’t even catch a fat thief when they’re in a car, and he’s on foot. They can’t catch him in a crowded restaurant, and later they can’t catch anyone, until one says to the other show him we mean business. Then they show their guns. Classic thugs, and a classic film scenario, only done French new wave.

Whilst in a car hurtling towards certain doom for a kidnapped Sagoyas and his newly found love, the pair decide to talk about women (See above). The story could use only one person to convey their points of view on life, women they all want it, they ain’t no good cept for one thing, but they compliment each others point of view. With two hostages and all this nasty talk, the hostages might override the degrading point of view, here it becomes a democracy. The thugs even manage to sway their captures into agreeing with them on some points. Power in numbers.

Then there’s the lying. Yeah, they lie. Later on in the film when they kidnap the youngest of the brothers they start boasting about their goods, one wears this and the other that. He boasts about how he wears an apparent Japanese scarf woven so fine that it is made out of metal, but feels like material. The brother disbelieves him. Nope! Swear it is metal or shall my mother drop dead. Truffuat shows the mother dropping dead on the spot.

Finally the shoot out. They shoot everyone, but the people that they’re aiming for.

Atleast they dress nice…