Film Review
The Polish born actor-screenwriter Jean-Pierre Mocky hoped to make his
directing debut in 1959 with
La Tête contre les murs,
which he scripted, but the producer instead opted to hire Georges
Franju, a more experienced filmmaker. Mocky subsequently directed
his first film,
Les Drageurs,
a comedy-drama which had its Paris premiere on 29th April 1959.
Somewhat imperfect and obviously hastily made, this film came out at
almost the same time as Jean-Luc Godard's
À
bout de souffle. Although it is not exactly New Wave,
the movie is still a blast of fresh air for French cinema. By the
way, the word 'drageur' (which translates as 'chaser') has since
entered the French dictionary.
This film is about two young men, one shy and the other self-confident,
who are trying to pick up women during a fast-paced night in
Paris. In fact, this road-movie's real subject is loneliness in
the big city. Mocky displays an acid yet tender tone to show
everyday life in Parisian locations and it causes you to reflect on the
abyss between the mentalities of the 1950s and today. Even with
an optimistic ending (imposed by the producer), this pleasing
'scandalous film' is a charming piece of work about liberated sexual
behaviour in the late 1950s.
Initially, Laurent Terzieff and Jean-Paul Belmondo were chosen for the
film's leading characters but the producer insisted on Jacques Charrier
(famously the husband of Brigitte Bardot) and Charles Aznavour.
Charrier was first noticed in Marcel Carné's
Les
Tricheurs (1958) and later starred in Christian-Jaque's
Babette s'en va t'en guerre
(1959) and Michel Deville's
À
cause, à cause d'une femme (1963). The singer-actor
Charles Aznavour, already acclaimed for his part in
La Tête contre les murs,
agreed to play the part of Joseph Bouvier in Mocky's film while waiting
for Truffaut's
Tirez sur le pianiste (1960).
Around the chasers there is a delightful parade of emblematic actresses
of the period, including the lovely Dany Robin, the beautiful Estella
Blain, the charming Dany Carrel, the fragrant Nicole Berger, the
glamorous Anouk Aimeé and the gorgeous English actress Belinda
Lee. This joyous ride attracted an audience of 1.5 million in
France and won a prize at the Locarno Film Festival.
© Willems Henri (Brussels, Belgium) 2012
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Jean-Pierre Mocky film:
Un couple (1960)
Film Synopsis
One Saturday night, two young men named Freddy and Joseph meet by
chance on the banks of the River Seine. Both have the same
objective in mind: chasing women. Freddy, a decorator, claims to
have experience with girls and knows how to seduce them. Joseph, a bank
employee, dreams of getting married and starting a family. They
decide to stick together and off they go, to trawl Paris for a nice bit
of skirt. At the Invalides, they meet the out-going
Dénise, but she is clearly only after a one night stand.
In Saint-Germain-des-prés, our likely lads appear to strike
lucky with Dadou and Sylviane, but they beat a hasty retreat when it
becomes apparent that these two wily lasses only want someone to pay
for their drinks. The night is still young and Freddy and Joseph
are still hopeful that they can get what they want before the evening
is out...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.