..It is not hard to do.
As the last link on the chain is Norwegian,I dedicate this comment to my good old pal from Norway,Oystein.
Inspired by a Paul Fort poem (1912),"Si Tous Les Gars du Monde" is an hymn to brotherhood ,solidarity and responsibility.It sums up Christian-Jaque's philosophy whose best works ("les Disparus de Saint Agil" " d'Hommes à Hommes" ) display a deep belief in the goodness and the dignity of men.There are pessimistic works in his filmography ("Un Revenant" "Boule de Suif" and the unfairly overlooked "le Repas des Fauves" ) but you'll notice that those are stories where people ,either are unable to all stand together or treat one of their fellow men like dirt.
The precedent user was right when he wrote that Lennon's "Imagine" is an exact equivalent of Christian-Jaque's work.Twelve fishermen were intoxicated by food (no,eleven,cause there's a Muslim among them and he did not have ham).Then begins a race against the clock cause they are at sea,far from the Norwegian coasts.If they do not get serum by eight,they'll all die.It's 1956,and it is not that much easy to take the precious vials.But "Si Tous les Gars du Monde "...lend their hand,then everything's possible.People from Africa,from France,from Germany ,from Norway ,become all the links on the chain,a chain of love and of altruism..
French critics objected that C.J ; did not always avoid pathos.But he made all his "links" endearable.The young radio amateur (Jean Louis Trintignan) now sees his hobby differently .The late doctor's wife who has lost all her illusions,after refusing to be part of the game for a short while,knows now that her life is still useful.The German blind man (ten years after WW2) was a symbol of the soon-to -come France/Germany new friendship before De Gaulle and Adenauer made it a reality.And on the trawler,there's a racist man who finally understands that a man's heart does not depend on the color of his skin:the scene when Mohammed dives into the icy waters of the Norwegian sea is the most moving scene in a movie which will you drive you to tears...
When the trawler docks in a harbor in Brittany (Concarneau),they hoist the French flag,but you do not hear La Marseillaise!You do not hear "Imagine" either of course but the music Georges Van Parys wrote ,an hymn to fraternity.It became a good campfire song in the years which followed.
"Si tous les gars du monde/Décidaient d'être copains..." Should all the guys in the world decide to become pals...
Most amazing thing: HG Clouzot was one of the script writers!It's a far cry from his black stories.Maybe he ,too,had to believe in finer feelings and a better world.
