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.
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.