L’Étalon (1970) - film review

Veterinary surgeon William Chaminade is having a peaceful holiday in the South of France when he is witness to an event that will change not only his life but the destiny of France!  A young woman tries to kill herself by jumping from the upstairs window of the hotel where he is staying.  Thanks to the services of a passing athlete, the woman is unharmed, and she reveals that her distress is down to her husband’s apparent lack of interest in her.  Immediately, Chaminade has a brainwave.  He will open a special centre for people like this unfortunate young woman, who will be able to satisfy their romantic needs, at the tax payers’ expense.   All is well until this innovative ’pleasure centre’ draws the attention of an over-zealous tax inspector, Dupuis...

Bourvil and Francis Blanche are united for the last time in this acerbic satirical comedy which takes a humorous (and somewhat cynical) look at changing attitudes in France towards sex and marriage in the late 1960s, a time of immense social change.  It was the last of four films that Bourvil made with director Jean-Pierre Mocky, who is renowned for his provocative comedies which combine anarchic farce and razor-sharp satire.  Their previous collaborations include the enduring popular classics: Un drôle de paroissien (1963) and La Grande frousse (1964).  In each of Mocky’s films, Bourvil defies his popular ordinary man image by playing a character with a cunning maverick tendency, and L’Étalon is no exception...

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