Le Crabe Tambour (The Crab Drum) stars Jacques Perrin as the title character. An officer in the French navy, Perrin has earned his nickname through his habit of beating his chest a la King Kong after consuming a crab dinner. Stories of this eccentric but courageous warrior remain in circulation long after his involvement in the Indochinese and Algerian wars. Two of his former comrades in arms, Jean Rochefort and Claude Rich, have long suffered guilt pangs for not having stood by "Le Crabe Tambour" when he needed them most. Accompanied by a third veteran, Jacques Dufilho, the men decide to stage a reunion with the dying Perrin. This triangular character study (the title character is seen only in flashback) won several French film industry awards when it was originally released in 1977; still, it didn't pick up a US distributor until 1984. Director Pierre Schoendoerffer co-adapted the screenplay for Le Crabe Tambour from his own novel.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide