So this is, as the title would indicate, a French movie. It was made in 1939 (and is set contemporaneously), satirizing the wealthy French classes in the form of a country-house farce. (At one point in the movie, as various illicit couples rush along, pursuing and pursued, the lord of the house tells his butler to “put an end to this farce” and gets the reply “Which one, sir?”)

It was scandalous in its time, and banned by the Nazis (despite which there’s a bit of apparently anti-Semitic dialogue in it). It does not have the same power to scandalize today, as there’s nobody around to be offended by satire of the great and powerful in interwar France.

And I say satire because that’s what everything about this movie says[1], but it’s also surprisingly humanizing. These aren’t just caricatures darting around, they come off with a kind of subtlety and depth that’s surprising, even when they’re simultaneously being portrayed as foolish or petty or whatever else.

The movie’s much more charming and witty and… well, modern than I would have expected from something of this vintage. It’s also apparently a technical triumph, which considering that it looks and feels very modern, but it’s two years before Citizen Kane, seems v. plausibly true, but what do I know about “deep focus cinematography”?

Recommended, especially to anyone who likes both country-house farces and France.

Also, rando side point: One of the main characters is Austrian, which we’re supposed to pick up from her accent, but, uh, guess who’s got two thumbs and can’t tell what an Austrian French accent sounds like? C’est moi.

  1. The annoying thing about watching movies that have been adored and analyzed by serious film people for many decades is that I feel dumb saying a damn thing about them, because who gives a shit what I’m saying. Here, go read Roger Ebert instead if you’re really interested in a more educated take ↩︎