Les petits câlins (1978)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Jean-Marie Poiré

Writer:

Jean-Marie Poiré (writer)

Release Date:

25 January 1978 (France)

Cast

Dominique Laffin	...	Sophie
Caroline Cartier	...	Sylvie
Josiane Balasko	...	Corinne
Roger Miremont	...	Antoine (as Roger Mirmont)
Jacques Frantz	...	Marc
Patrick Cartié	...	Jean-Pierre
Claire Maurier	...	Mère de Sophie
Jean Bouise	...	Père de Sophie
Françoise Bertin	...	Mère d'Antoine
Jacques Maury	...	Margeron
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rémy Carpentier
Albert Dray
Marc Eyraud	...	Le libraire
Claude Furlan
Gérard Jugnot
Jean-Jacques Moreau
Marie Pillet
Roger Souza

Also Known As:

The Little Wheedlers (International: English title)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Gaumont International

Routine French comedy, but for Dominique Laffin

This was Jean-Marie Poiré's first feature; five years later he made Le Père Noel est une ordure, that classic black comedy with so many quotable lines. Here he's learning his craft--some scenes don't tie together very well, there's a suspicious lack of discord between the three roommates. He has Jean Bouise and Claire Maurier as the parents (she was Leaud's mother in The 400 Blows) to firm up the box office.

So far, so dull. I want to talk about Dominique Laffin, this almost forgotten actress, who combines solidity--you believe her as a motorcyclist--with a dreamy, solitary air. She's sexually freewheeling here, yet never gives up her desire for a stable relationship. Hard to believe somebody so vital died at 33.