Based on the French-Canadian folk song ,"Alouette,gentille alouette" , this unpretentious little comedy has some good moments of black humor ; even the thriller side of Claude Chabrol (this side of "Docteur Popaul" ) is present ,even though he's just an actor here .Although he often played supporting parts or cameos in his own films and others, his piercing look shows that he could have been a talented thespian ,had he chosen this way; he easily steals the show from his co-stars :Fabrice Lucchini who was excellent as the treacherous cousin in the remake of "le bossu" is not convincing as a macho man and his scenes with his wife are often filler ;so are Chabrol's scenes with his chum.
Chabrol gives a compelling performance of a surly grumpy old man, a male "tatie Danielle" , an occasionally voyeur, who promises his fortune to young people who are sick and tired of their routine (and not well-paid ) jobs of ambulance driver and nurse in a home for retired people where she 's found a better way to bring home the bacon.
In the first sequences ,Chabrol meets another legend of the French cinema,Micheline Presles ,an actress he never directed.
Filmed on location in Honfleur,Normandy.
