Les godelureaux (1961)

Roland, an idler living on the Left Bank in Paris, is determined to inflict a terrible revenge on his friend Arthur, after the latter subjected him to a harmless joke. He engages the ... See full summary »

Director:

Claude Chabrol

Writers:

Claude Chabrol (adaptation), Paul Gégauff (adaptation)

Stars:

Jean-Claude Brialy, Bernadette Lafont, Jean Tissier

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jean-Claude Brialy	...	Ronald
Bernadette Lafont	...	Ambroisine
Jean Tissier	...	Le président / President
Sacha Briquet	...	Henri, le fiancé
Laura Carli	...	Tante Suzanne
Jean Galland	...	L'oncle d'Arthur / Arthur's uncle
Sophie Grimaldi	...	La fiancée
Serge Bento	...	Bernard I / Le livreur / Deliveryman
Pierre Vernier	...	Bernard II
Corrado Guarducci	...	Le peintre
Jacques Ralf
Jeanne Pérez	...	La veuve Goupil (as Jeanne Perez)
Robert Barre
Stella Dassas	...	La duchesse
Fabrizio Capucci	...	(as Fabrizio Cappucci)

Storyline

Roland, an idler living on the Left Bank in Paris, is determined to inflict a terrible revenge on his friend Arthur, after the latter subjected him to a harmless joke. He engages the services of the seductive Ambroisine, who pretends to fall in love with Arthur. Oblivious to his friend's scheming, Arthur is certain that Ambroisine's feelings for him are genuine and looks forward to their wedding day.

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Plot Keywords:

based on novel | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French

Release Date:

17 March 1961 (France)

Also Known As:

Eleganci

Filming Locations:

Boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris 6, Paris, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cocinor, SpA Cinematografica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

User Reviews

Nothing is left ...

....or almost nothing of this old Nouvelle Vague.For these who are still believing that this cinema was uncompromising,revolutionary and saved us from the old drivelers (However,Truffaut once said that he would give his whole filmography in exchange for "Les Enfants Du Paradis" ;I would too),they will be probably disappointed when they learn that Chabrol had not even read the book when he accepted to transfer it to the screen(Cinema D'Auteur,my foot!) ;he did it just because "Les Bonnes Femmes" had been a flop and his producer urged him to repair the breach by releasing a more accessible effort;it was much better but even so displayed no sign that Chabrol had genuine creativity to offer .Among his already big output -compared to the other directors of his school- ,there's only one good movie ("Les Cousins" ) and a handful of watchable ones ("A Double Tour " "Le Beau Serge " " L'Oeil Du Malin" ).It would take him ten years to produce really great movies in the late sixties /early seventies :but then he had forgotten the precepts of the N.W. and worked on terrific screenplays.

Chabrol himself told "Les Godelureaux " was a futile movie about futility.It bears all the scars of the time : a succession of desultory scenes,some funny,some much less so,cult of youth, young people busy contemplating their navel ,exchanging fortune- cookie philosophies ,blaming bourgeois charity (the scene when Stephane Audran,later Chabrol's wife and his best actress ever, performs an erotic dance before the ladies' deeply shocked eyes and the gentlemen salivating like Pavlov's dogs is perhaps the highlight of a terrible hodgepodge ) and singing "La Carmagnole" ,the revolutionary anthem ,in their sports car:in most of the N.W. works ,the characters can always make both ends meet .

Jean -Claude Brialy portrays (even if the story is not very clear on that point for good reasons)a bisexual playing a two- bit Vicomte De Valmont ("Dangerous Liaisons") whose motto is probably "revenge is a dish best eaten cold" .Charles Belmont ,an actor who quickly fell into oblivion ,is his victim.Bernadette Laffont ,an actress either outstanding or exasperating ,depending on whom you ask , serves as the instrument of this revenge .

Only the Nouvelle Vague students -and God only knows how many they are here there and everywhere- should pick up this flick among Chabrol's monumental filmography;to people who would like to discover him,I 'd simply say : try "Le Boucher" or "Que La Bête Meure" instead.

Like this? try these.......

"Les Bonnes Femmes ",Claude Chabrol

"Les Copains" ,Yves Robert

"Vacances Portugaises" ,Pierre Kast

"Et Satan Conduit Le Bal" ,Dabat.