Heureux anniversaire (1962)
Directed by Jean-Claude Carrière, Pierre Étaix

Film Review

Pierre Étaix's filmmaking career received an enormous boost when he won the Best Short Film Oscar in 1963 for this, his second short film. Heureux anniversaire (a.k.a. The Anniversary) is the perfect companion piece to Étaix's first film Rupture, which also makes light of Paris' notorious rush hour congestion problem.  Étaix's distinctive brand of comedy is clearly influenced by Jacques Tati and Buster Keaton, although it has its own subtly malicious charm.  Here, he plays a husband making a heroic endeavour to get back home to celebrate his wedding anniversary with his wife, only to have his best efforts thwarted by bad luck and some indescribably bad traffic.  Most of the gags are traffic-jam-oriented - the traffic is so diabolical that one driver has time to get hold of a bucket of water and give his car a thorough wash - and Étaix is generous enough not to claim all the best jokes for himself.  Heureux anniversaire may be slight compared with the director's subsequent great films, but it is an enjoyable appetiser all the same.

Film Synopsis

In her Parisian apartment, a young woman is busy preparing a meal to celebrate her wedding anniversary.  Meanwhile, her husband is struggling with the rush hour traffic to get back home.  When he finally manages to get his car moving, he gets himself mistaken for a taxi driver and damages the flowers he bought for his wife.  Meanwhile, the wife has given up waiting and starts the evening's celebrations without her husband...