L'emmerdeur

L'emmerdeur is a 1973 French-Italian black comedy directed by Édouard Molinaro, adapted by Francis Veber from his own stage play Le contrat. The film stars Lino Ventura alongside Jacques Brel, who appears here in his tenth and final feature film, with Caroline Cellier and Jean-Pierre Darras in supporting roles. The story follows a professional contract killer who checks into a hotel room to carry out a job. His plan is disrupted by the occupant of the neighboring room, a despairing salesman determined to end his own life. Fearing that a suicide would draw the police into the hotel and expose his operation, the hitman reluctantly becomes the stranger's protector, repeatedly preventing his attempts and trying to talk him out of it. The uneasy bond between the two men fuels both the tension and the humor. The film was later remade in Hollywood as Buddy Buddy (1981), with further adaptations including a Turkish version, Baş Belası (1982).