Le coup du berger

Virginia Vitry's lover has given her a fur coat and she is delighted. There's just one problem. What will she tell her husband?

Jacques Rivette's short film is based on a Roald Dahl story and is a typically snide piece of fiction for both men. For Rivette, there is an air of post-war anomie in the entire matter, one that runs through most of his work and most of the French New Wave. There is no real joy, and the comedies are all mocking ones, efforts of the biter-bit variety, like this.

The movie ends at a party, one supposedly shot in Claude Chabrol's apartment. It's something of a coming-out party for the New Wave, with Chabrol, Godard and Truffaut among the guests.