Film Review
There are not many films that convey how life was in France in the
early 1970s better than this zany satirical romp, the second film to be
directed by the popular actor-comedian Jean Yanne after
his debut feature (a cult classic)
Tout le monde il est beau, tout le monde il est gentil (1972).
Moi y'en a vouloir des sous at
first sight appears to be little more than an anti-capitalist rant,
having much in common with Jean-Luc Godard's 1967 film
Week End,
in which Yanne had played the leading role. However, on closer
examination, the subtext is somewhat more ambiguous than this, and the
film begins to appear less a condemnation of capitalism and more a
skit on the failure of left-wing politics to achieve positive social
change.
Whilst it is funny - in some places hilariously so -
Moi y'en a vouloir des sous is
evidently a cry of despair.
It laments the harm that capitalism
causes not just to society and to individuals but also - and here the
film is perhaps ahead of its time - to the environment. Yet it
also admits that left-wing politics will never succeed in taming the
capitalist beast and, will in fact be seduced by it into becoming its
willing handmaiden. How prescient. Just as the characters
in this story sell out to achieve their aims, so socialist parties
across the Western world would, in the course of the two decades that
followed, jettison most (if not all) of their left-wing ideology just
to get themselves into power and keep themselves in power for as long
as possible. As the film's closing caption succinctly puts it:
the world is made of idiots who fight
against the rest to preserve an absurd society.
© James Travers 2009
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Next Jean Yanne film:
Les Chinois à Paris (1974)
Film Synopsis
In 1973, the landscape of urban France is coloured by protracted
strikes and demonstrations by left-wing political activists. Banners
and barricades fill the streets. A financial adviser for a large corporation,
Benoît Lepape considers himself above this proletarian struggle -
at least he does until the day he is dismissed by his boss for using
his initiative without permission. When challenged by his uncle
Adrien to come up with a better means of serving the interests of the
working man than strikes and demonstrations, Benoît has a
brainwave: use the tools of capitalism to defeat capitalism! He
persuades Adrien to give him his union's funds so that he can buy a
bicycle factory. The venture is a success. In no time at
all, Benoît accumulates a fortune and begins to build a vast
business empire, having convinced his employees that his wealth belongs
to them. But when Benoît announces that he wants to quit
and hand over the running of his companies to his employees, they
demand that he stays. They are even ready to strike to force him
to remain...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.