Les Gauloises bleues

It was writer Michel Cournot's one and only movie as a director,though he wrote the screenplay of "Ursule et Grelut " ,directed by Serge Korber ,although featuring Annie Girardot.

Although praised to the skies by some critics at time of release,it failed totally to convince the mainstream audience and was a scathing fiasco at the box-office.

Some call it artistic ,I'd rather call it arty ;some call it heady ,I'd rather call it headache ; Monteverdi's music over pretentious cast and credits and one knows what to expect : a meaningful,deep , seff-conscious movie which turns a banal melodrama into a lecture on the underdogs .

Ivan and his wife are expecting a baby ; he remembers his past :his mother and his father were denied his custody and the unfortunate son wound up in state custody (on a farm?); both his parents (Annie Girardot and Bruno Cremer ) are filmed in close shot when they are questioned by the judge ,whose face one never sees ( Truffaut's "les quatre cents coups " influence).

As it was 1968,Cournot was anxious to get new messages across ,politics were de rigueur :so there are boards of sacrificed minorities and a very special election : a single candidate and,as the notice boards for election posters claim :but there are more "leftish parties" you'll ever know,mind you. This hotchpotch features pictures of men in high position and others ,the connection escapes me,i fear......

If the movie is a plea for a square deal for the underprivileged , it significally fails in its purpose: if you were born an underdog , whatever you may do ,you're bound to endless night ,as the dramatic ending shows.