Themroc (1973)

Made without proper language, just gibberish and grunts, this is an absurdist comedy about a man who rejects every facet of normal bourgeois life and turns his apartment into a virtual cave.

Director:

Claude Faraldo

Stars:

Michel Piccoli, Béatrice Romand, Marilù Tolo

2 wins.

Cast

Credited cast:
Michel Piccoli	...	Themroc
Béatrice Romand	...	La soeur de Themroc / Themroc's sister
Marilù Tolo	...	La secrétaire
Francesca Romana Coluzzi	...	La voisine / the neighbor
Jeanne Herviale	...	La mère de Themroc / Themroc's mother
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jean Aron
Paul Barrault
Romain Bouteille	...	Un ouvrier / Le patron hargneux / Le voisin / Le flic-A Worker / The Surprising Boss / The Neighbor / The Cop
Stéphane Bouy	...	Un ouvrier / Un policier
Coluche	...	Le jeune voisin / Un ouvrier / Un flic
Madeleine Damien
Patrick Dewaere	...	Le maçon
François Dyrek	...	Un policier
Michel Fortin	...	Un ouvrier / Un CRS
Henri Guybet	...	Un ouvrier

Storyline

This extraordinary romp uses no language whatever, except gestures and grunts. When Themroc rebels against the dull conformity of his life with flamboyant anarchistic splendor, the whole world quickly goes howling mad. His day starts, as usual, when his mother more-or-less drags him out of bed and kicks him out the door to go to his factory job, which supports them all. At the factory, when he is called onto the carpet, he quits (but not before fondling the boss's secretary). Back at home, he makes love to his sister and then transforms the family's apartment into a more primitive abode. The conditions of the stone-age quickly return.

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Plot Keywords:

brother sister incest | one breast exposed | bare breasts | satire | absurd comedy | 

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Taglines:

The urban caveman.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

None

Release Date:

October 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

Il mangiaguardie

Company Credits

Production Co:

Productions Filmanthrope, Les Productions FDL

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Visa de Contrôle Cinématographique N° 39.805.

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Connections

Referenced in Tabarnac (1975)

User Reviews

THEMROC (Claude Faraldo, 1973) ***

This is mainly noted for having no intelligible dialogue throughout: given its considerable length (105 minutes) and essential plotlessness, though, the series of grunts, growls, groans and other gibberish uttered by all the characters involved does become wearying after a while. Nevertheless, it's a good example of the risks that film-makers were willing to take (and generally manage to pull off) during this most creative era in World Cinema; curiously enough, for being virtually a Silent film with barely established characters, this has one of the longest cast lists I've ever seen! THEMROC revolves around a laborer (Michel Piccoli) who goes berserk after getting the sack from work: he sleeps with his sister and destroys his apartment and, after the initial astonishment, his neighbors get the same anarchic bug. This streak of non-conformism also extends to sex (with plenty of non-graphic nudity on display), as Piccoli contrives to elicit uninhibited behavior from many of the females (be they nubile or frustrated) around him – including the secretary, Marilu' Tolo, he had been caught unwittingly peeping on and subsequently seduced. Despite the occasional brutality, police intervention in the matter largely proves ineffectual. Though the point of it all is obscure – unless it's that one needs to revert to some form of primeval state in order to survive the exigencies of the modern world – a handful of situations which crop up are definitely amusing: Piccoli and policeman Patrick Dewaere engaging in a tit-for-tat routine while the latter is rebuilding the façade of his apartment; feeling liberated, a victimized wife tries to assert herself and finally escapes her husband's tyranny through the window when he's not looking; a man spends practically the entire film lovingly washing his car but, then, at the very end he joins in the chaos by nonchalantly taking a sledge-hammer to it. Still, when all is said and done, the best thing about the film is its extraordinary fragmented editing.