Coup de tête

A wonderful and little-known film, starring the late, great Patrick DaWaere as a hot-headed young man who works in a French factory town where the town's morale is intimately linked to the football (i.e. soccer) team. To be on the team and work in the factory are all there is in this town.

When the star of the team commits a crime, the town's most powerful citizens decide that someone else must take the blame, because they can't afford to lose the culprit from the team... it would be bad for business. So they scapegoat the hot-head, instead. But he returns to wreak his revenge... or rather, to outwit the guilty into wreaking revenge on themselves for him.

An unusual film for Annaud, a typically brilliant piece of scripting by Veber, and a thoroughly engaging performance by DaWaere as the wronged man. Whatever happened to this movie?