La dialectique peut-elle casser des briques? (1973)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Directors:

Kuang-chi Tu
René Viénet

Writer:

Kuang Ni (writer)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot Keywords:

Situationism

Cast

Chan Hung Liu	...	(archive footage)
Ingrid Wu	...	(archive footage)
Jason Pai Piao	...	(archive footage)
Raoul Curet	...	(voice) (as Raoul Cure)
Jacques Thébault	...	(voice)
Michèle Grellier	...	(voice)
Dominique Morin	...	(voice)
Daniel Galle	...	(voice)
Patrick Dewaere	...	(voice)
Jean-Pierre Leroux	...	(voice)
Yves-Marie Morin	...	(voice)
Michel Bardelet	...	(voice)
Michel Elias	...	(voice)
Dominique Page	...	(voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Li Chai Chung	...	(archive footage)
Roland Giraud	...	(voice)

Also Known As:

Can Dialectics Break Bricks?

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Quotes:

Man #1: They've alienated yet another proletarian.
Man #2: Another one lost.
Hero: What's going on?
Man #1: This one just became a union rep.
Man #2: As soon as he did, he repressed a wildcat strike, just before buying a TV on credit.
Woman: It's sad. These bastards - suppose we burnt off the hair under their arms.

Movie Connections:

References Themroc (1973)

A hilarious situationist comedy.

I had the amazing opportunity to view this film at a university theatre at UC Berkeley where it had been subtitled by a student, which makes me wonder how accessible this film actually is, especially with a translation present. In any event, if you ever have the opportunity to see this masterpiece by the French situationists, you should definitely see it.

The story line is simple: a classic kung-fu movie has simply had the entire dialogue changed to represent the epic battle between the proletariats and the bureaucracy, with a martial arts school as the utopian commune. That idea alone is comic genius, and as if the idea wasn't funny enough, the writing is hilarious. For example, when a little girl runs away from her little boy friend, one of his friends comforts him and says something to the effect of, "Please forgive her for being a Marxist, she just doesn't know better."

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, and it was definitely unique, but I also really think you would only enjoy it if you enjoy political satire and know a decent amount about different political viewpoints (and hopefully socialist history). I know a fair amount about these things, and half the jokes were still lost on me. In any event, this is an excellent intellectual comedy and I recommend it to anyone who might find it the least bit interesting.

Yes, dialectics can indeed break bricks!