Umbrella Coup

Le Coup du parapluie (1980)

Timing: 1:35 (95 min)

6.88/10
184

7.712/10
53372

6.6/10
3500

• The idea for the method of the crime in the film was based on the 1978 murder of Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov in London, carried out by an agent of Bulgarian intelligence services who used an umbrella with poison.
• The car used by Grégoire Lecomte is an "Alfa Romeo Berlina" (1968 model). Moskovich monitors Lecomte using a "Mercedes-Benz - 450 SEL" (1978 model). Lecomte, "Mouse," and Fredo with his family are going on vacation in a "Peugeot-404 Familiale" (1968 model). "The Doctor" drives a "Porsche-911 Carrera" (1972 model).
• Soviet distribution censors cut "unnecessary" scenes of violence: Moskovich killing a man in an express photograph, and Lefort attempting to strangle Lecomte in the toilet with wire. Furthermore, for understandable ideological reasons of "solidarity with the friendly peoples of Africa," the moment when Signor Barberini negotiates a contract with African representatives and leads them into an adjacent room behind a one-way mirror, so they can see everything, was removed; he later apologizes to the mirror for accidentally calling them savages. This not only removed risqué jokes but also somewhat crippled the plot: when showing the satisfied Krampe speeding on his yacht and towing Monsieur Boumaco on a fishing line, it's clear that he is one of the intermediaries. The full version makes it clear where and how he learned about the impending attempt on his life. Also cut were greasy, meaningful episodes: the scene of Fredo's wife talking to Lecomte (who cuckolded his friend), the scene where Josiane finds Raj Khan dead, carefully laid out by Moskovich in his hotel bed.