F... comme Fairbanks (1976) - film review

André Fragman (baptised “Fairbanks” by his cinema projectionist father) returns from his military service with a diploma in chemistry.  He expects to have no trouble finding a job, since a relative of his, Etienne, has promised him a place in his company.  Meanwhile, André meets and falls in love with a student actress, Marie, who is rehearsing for a stage production of Alice in Wonderland.  When André’s promised job fails to materialise, he ends up having to take manual work, but he has difficulty holding down any job he can find.  Frustrated, his mood changes for the worse, and he ends up driving away Marie...

F... comme Fairbanks paints a depressingly realistic portrait of a young man struggling against seemingly insurmountable odds to find purpose and fulfilment in his life.  It was made at a time of serious economic decline in France and the sense of hopelessness endemic in the young unemployed at the time is apparent throughout the film.

The film charts the decline in the mental state of its principal character, André (ironically nicknamed Fairbanks after the legendary American actor Douglous Fairbanks).  As it does so, it undergoes a progressive shift in cinematic style, making this an uncomfortable film to watch.  Starting as a light comedy, the film switches gear half-way through and ends in high drama.  That the film reaches its climax on the set of a production of Alice in Wonderland adds a nice touch of irony, reminding us that life is always a mixture of reality and fantasy.

The main reason for the film’s impact is a hugely forceful performance from Patrick Dewaere, arguably the best French film actor of the 1970s.  His role in this film is typical of the part which, in his short but brilliant acting career, he made his own – the loser, a dreamer, a social misfit, played with a rare intensity and a sense of tragic heroism.

© James Travers 2000

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