La Situation est grave... mais pas désespérée (1976) - film review

Bertrand Duvenois is a property developer with great ambitions.  To secure the go-ahead for a new construction project, he invites Jean-Pierre Mazard, the Minister of Quality and Culture, to spend a weekend with him and his wife, Sophie de Valrude, at their sprawling country estate.   When Mazard arrives, he is accompanied by his mistress – hence his eagerness to avoid any kind of publicity.  Unfortunately, the grounds have been invaded by a squad of trigger-happy anti-gangster police led by the inept Inspector Landrin.  These are in pursuit of an armed and highly dangerous crook who is on the run after having executed a spectacular hold-up.   At this juncture, Sophie’s former husband Philippe - whom everyone thought dead – turns up from nowhere.  This is convenient because Sophie also receives an impromptu visit from her father-in-law, whom she has deceived into thinking Philippe was still alive.  Unfortunately, neither Philippe nor his father know that Sophie has re-married.  Whilst this bombshell is waiting to go off, another one lands on the doorstep.  Mazard’s insanely jealous wife arrives unannounced and is ready to kill her husband if she finds he has been cheating her...

If you have ever wondered what the word "imbroglio" means, this film will enlighten you far better than any dictionary definition.  La Situation est grave... mais pas désespérée is one of the most convoluted farces in French cinema, made in a decade when such films (usually adaptations of moderately successful stage plays) were generally well received.  On the plus side, the film has an ebullient ensemble cast who manage to supply a fair number of good laughs, albeit in a somewhat scattergun fashion.  Although his performance veers towards the hysterical in places, Michel Serrault gives great entertainment value, even if it is apparant that he is wasted on such lowbrow fare as this.  With its endless repetition and increasingly absurd plot convolutions, the film quickly loses its appeal.  It soon resembles a long drawn out gag told by a third-rate comedian, one where you feel you will die of old age before you hear the punch line.  This is one of those films which is probably far more enjoyable if you watch it in thirty minute stints rather than in one sitting.

© James Travers 2008

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