Le Martyre de l'obèse (1933)
Directed by Pierre Chenal

Film Review

Having made a series of documentary shorts from the late 1920s, director Pierre Chenal finally made his feature debut with Le Martyre de l'obèse, adapted from Henri Béraud's novel of the same title, one of two works which won the author the Prix Goncourt in 1922.  Somewhere between comedy and drama, the film is a dark satire on society's attitudes towards the obese and still has a resonance (it would take a very brave filmmaker to make a film like this today).  The film's malicious humour is something that Chenal would bring to some of his later films, although this is his least typical work and is strikingly different, both in tone and subject matter, from his far better known forays into film noir territory, L'Alibi (1937) and Le Dernier Tournant (1939).  Although he appears like a creepy comicbook parody of Alfred Hitchcock for much of the film, André Berley has an arresting screen personality and brings more than a hint of pathos to his portrayal of a big man overly concerned with his appearance.  This likeably weird film ends with a cogent message: to be happy, just ignore the prejudices of others and be yourself.  Besides, what is a silly little romance compared with the riotous goings on at the 100 Kilograms Club?

Film Synopsis

Angèle Léger is outraged when she discovers that her husband Henri has been seeing another woman, so outraged that she decides to take a lover herself, just to make Henri jealous.  The man she selects for her purpose is Canabol, a well-built man who weighs no less than one hundred kilograms.  Having fallen in love with Angèle, Canabol decides that he must drastically lose weight if he is to stand a chance of stealing her affections.  Alas, his efforts to become slim by dieting and fitness training prove totally futile...