Smic Smac Smoc

Based on a one line idea, this very rarely seen Lelouch flick could have been a quite good short movie. Unfortunately, it apparently had to run as a 90 minutes feature without the amount of script material it needed to justify its length. As a result, the group of actors, as likable as they all can be, try very hard to compensate with a good deal of improvised dialog. None of which could be considered as totally entertaining for that matter. Charles Gérard, in particular, puts a lot of himself into the friendly touch shadowing a bit too much the rest of the cast. The proletarian extraction of the protagonists could have been an excellent element to make a point in that "would be" social satire, but the film never gets a real chance to get involved in any kind of political issue, or whatever... Claude Lelouch tried again the same kind of filming experiment one year later with the much more successful "L'Aventure, c'est l'Aventure". That one was really funny. "Smic Smac Smoc" is just a bit pleasant at times, but not to be really recommended, though. Just out of curiosity, try it but don't put your expectations too high.

Filmed in eight days , with the inhabitants of Toulon used as extras (they can sue the production if they do not agree) ,"smic smac smoc" is Claude Lelouch's smallest budget :no big star , an amateurish directing , often impromptu performances ; and to top it all ,spoken cast and credits a la Sacha Guitry.

"Smic Smac Smoc " is a pleasant movie, if only for its spontaneity ,its sense of camaraderie , its total absence of pretension and its joie de vivre .The actors have talent and intellect going for them ,particularly Morrocan-born Amidou ,one of the director's favorites (his best part was Lelouch 's "la vie ,l'amour ,la mort' ,a strong plea against death penalty).

The social /political side of the movie should not be taken seriously : Lelouch has always been a right-winger ,but to precise a rightist anarchist , who sometimes called the establishment into question , like his three heroes, who often recall the characters of a comic strip "les Pieds Nickelés" .

The first part of the movie drags on a bit,but from the wedding onwards ,it becomes endearing and enjoyable : the wedding (no dress, no walk along the aisle) , the incident at the gas station where the naive owner tells his "customers" that the police never catch the thieves ; then the trip to Saint-Tropez ,capital of the rich , where they perform in the street (pretending they are blind) to make some dough to be able to have dinner in a luxury restaurant : this scene alone is worth the price of admission : the menu, the necessity to be an even number of guests , the bill (it's my whole monthly salary!),and the small change they use in a place where people take out big banknotes .

As always,Lelouch contemplates his navel ,and the accordionist plays themes of his former movies ("Vivre pour vivre" and of course " un homme et une femme",) but it's Lelouch 's trademark:take it or leave it.

As for the ending , if you do not agree with it,you can write him a letter !