I had mixed feelings for "Les Valseuses" (1974) written and directed by Bertrand Blier when I started watching it but I ended up liking it. I would not call it vulgar ("Dumb and Dumber" is vulgar, "The Sweetest Thing" is both vulgar and unforgivably stupid); I would call it shocking and offensive. I can understand why many viewers, especially, the females would not like or even hate it. It is the epitome of misogyny (or so it seems), and the way two antiheroes treat every woman they'd meet seems unspeakable. But the more I think of it the more I realize that it somehow comes off as a delightful little gem. I am fascinated how Blier was able to get away with it. The movie is very entertaining and highly enjoyable: it is well written, the acting by all is first - class, and the music is sweet and melancholic. Actually, when I think of it, two buddies had done something good to the women they came across to: they prepared a woman in the train (the lovely, docile blonde Brigitte Fossey who started her movie career with one of the most impressive debuts in René Clément's "Forbidden Games"(1952) at age 6) for the meeting with her husband whom she had not seen for two months; they found a man who was finally able to get a frigid Marie-Ange (Miou-Miou) exited and satisfied; they enlightened and educated young and very willing Isabelle Huppert (in one of her early screen appearances.) Their encounter with Jeanne Moreau elevates this comedy to the tragic level. In short, I am not sure I'd like to meet Gérard Depardieu's Jean-Claude and Patrick Dewaere's Pierrot in real life and invite them over for dinner but I had a good time watching the movie and two hours almost flew - it was never boring.
44 Reviews
Shocking and offensive but strangely lyrical and charming
Galina_movie_fan17 February 2005
Warning: Spoilers
If you fire off enough shots, some of them are bound to hit
allyjack4 August 1999
The movie has a distinct (albeit brutish and rough) humanity for all its borderline depravity - the zippy/lyrical score points up the comic side of their misadventures, and even when they're at their most thuggish (like terrorizing the woman on the train), a semi-pitiful vulnerability lurks never far away (Dewaere sucks on her breasts like a baby). Blier cuts away from the scene where Depardieu may be about to rape Dewaere, so we're never sure how explicitly to read the manifestly homoerotic aspect of their relationship - either way, that incident is the start of their relative humanization (so the movie could certainly be read as pro-gay, although it could likely be read as pro-anything you want). The movie has many objectionable scenes and points of sexual politics and is probably best taken as a general cartoon on the foibles of both sexes, making a mockery of the whole notion of sensitivity and honesty, and hitting numerous points of possible profundity on the basis that if you fire off enough shots, some of them are bound to hit.
A Trio of drifters roam around France creating mischief
ebsmooth19 February 2005
I originally saw this film years ago during Cinemax Friday after dark series(back when the cable box was built like a keyboard),and it intrigued me. Even though there is a pointless aspect to the film it is well acted.The performances of Depardieu & Dewaere are very enjoyable.They have a good chemistry together & Miou-Miou makes a pink fur look breathtaking.A movie like this probably wouldn't be made in these politically correct times(at least not in the US), since it seems to sensationalize things like violence,robbery,& casual sex. This movie proves that with a talented cast & also talented directing a good movie is a good movie no matter the subject.It saddened me to find out Patrick Dewaere committed suicide & in the near future I,ll will check him out with Depardieu & Miou-Miou in Get Out Your Hankerchief.
Good for Cinema Vampires, Not for the General Public
jayraskin123 January 2012
Warning: Spoilers
I saw this film when it first played in 1974 and hated it. The lead characters were stupid and violent, and I thought it was mean spirited and not funny at all.
Seeing it some 38 years later, I have a much more mixed opinion about it. I can now see many things in the film I didn't understand before.
First, it is clear that Blier is heavily influenced by Godard and the Nouvelle Vague. Notice that the violence is generally off-screen and the story generally jumps over these scenes. For example the wounding of Pierrot is not shown, just as the shooting of the cop is not shown in "Breathless." The brutal homosexual rape scene is also off-screen with just a scream to indicate it. Likewise, as in "Breathless," there are long seemingly improvised, almost existentialist, talking scenes where the action comes completely to a stop.
Second, the violence and psychotic behavior of the leads is mainly in the first half of the film. In the second half, they are mostly charming and often sweet. For example, Jean-Claude offers all the money he has just stolen to a complete stranger, Jeanne Pirolle (Jeanne Moreau), a 40 year old destitute woman just released from prison after 10 years. Jean Claude does not ask anything in return. He seems to just want to help her. At another point, after Jean-Claude and Pierrot are connected with a murder, they try to get rid of Marie-Ange, so that she will not be connected. It is clear that these hoodlums who have mistreated Marie-Ange very badly have learned to care about her and even want to protect her.
While there are still any number of objectionable things that the lead characters do, there are really only two scenes, where they do things that are unforgivably mean-spirited. First, Jean Claude threatens the children of a doctor who is helping Pierrot. This seems entirely unnecessary and vicious. Second, Jean Claude shoots Marie-Ange in the knee when she starts to get angry during a robbery. The previous mistreatment of Marie-Ange, giving her as a present to a friend and forcing her to have sex together do not seem so bad, because she herself doesn't object and seems use to sexual mistreatment. It is at the moment that Marie-Ange has started to think and express herself and her feelings of anger that Jean Claude shoots her and that is why this incident seems so unpardonable.
It is put down as a goof in the film that later we see Marie-Ange and the wound from the gunshot has disappeared. I am not sure if it is a goof. Rather, the shooting itself and not the disappearance of the effects seems to be the mistake. Since they didn't bother to show the effects of the gunshot later on, I assume the shooting was a quickly improvised part of the film that was done before the later part of the plot was written. It is almost as if the shooting is from a first draft of the movie and only mistakenly found its way into the finished film. In any case, the shooting is the most repulsive part of the film and weakens it considerably.
People have described this as a "road movie." I think it more of a coming of age movie, where the three main characters are learning about sex. They don't come from virginity to sex as in most coming of age movies, but they come from seeing sex as something brutal and frightening to something tender and liberating.
The film includes three great performances by three great French film actresses, Miou-Miou, Isabel Huppert and Jeanne Moreau. This is probably the best reason to see the film. It is also a must for Gerald Depardieu and Bertrand Blier fans.
Seeing it some 38 years later, I have a much more mixed opinion about it. I can now see many things in the film I didn't understand before.
First, it is clear that Blier is heavily influenced by Godard and the Nouvelle Vague. Notice that the violence is generally off-screen and the story generally jumps over these scenes. For example the wounding of Pierrot is not shown, just as the shooting of the cop is not shown in "Breathless." The brutal homosexual rape scene is also off-screen with just a scream to indicate it. Likewise, as in "Breathless," there are long seemingly improvised, almost existentialist, talking scenes where the action comes completely to a stop.
Second, the violence and psychotic behavior of the leads is mainly in the first half of the film. In the second half, they are mostly charming and often sweet. For example, Jean-Claude offers all the money he has just stolen to a complete stranger, Jeanne Pirolle (Jeanne Moreau), a 40 year old destitute woman just released from prison after 10 years. Jean Claude does not ask anything in return. He seems to just want to help her. At another point, after Jean-Claude and Pierrot are connected with a murder, they try to get rid of Marie-Ange, so that she will not be connected. It is clear that these hoodlums who have mistreated Marie-Ange very badly have learned to care about her and even want to protect her.
While there are still any number of objectionable things that the lead characters do, there are really only two scenes, where they do things that are unforgivably mean-spirited. First, Jean Claude threatens the children of a doctor who is helping Pierrot. This seems entirely unnecessary and vicious. Second, Jean Claude shoots Marie-Ange in the knee when she starts to get angry during a robbery. The previous mistreatment of Marie-Ange, giving her as a present to a friend and forcing her to have sex together do not seem so bad, because she herself doesn't object and seems use to sexual mistreatment. It is at the moment that Marie-Ange has started to think and express herself and her feelings of anger that Jean Claude shoots her and that is why this incident seems so unpardonable.
It is put down as a goof in the film that later we see Marie-Ange and the wound from the gunshot has disappeared. I am not sure if it is a goof. Rather, the shooting itself and not the disappearance of the effects seems to be the mistake. Since they didn't bother to show the effects of the gunshot later on, I assume the shooting was a quickly improvised part of the film that was done before the later part of the plot was written. It is almost as if the shooting is from a first draft of the movie and only mistakenly found its way into the finished film. In any case, the shooting is the most repulsive part of the film and weakens it considerably.
People have described this as a "road movie." I think it more of a coming of age movie, where the three main characters are learning about sex. They don't come from virginity to sex as in most coming of age movies, but they come from seeing sex as something brutal and frightening to something tender and liberating.
The film includes three great performances by three great French film actresses, Miou-Miou, Isabel Huppert and Jeanne Moreau. This is probably the best reason to see the film. It is also a must for Gerald Depardieu and Bertrand Blier fans.
A French Must See
ferre-130 October 2005
This is one a most famous movies of the French sexual empowerment of the seventies, starring Gerard Depardieu and Patrick Dewaere in extremely sarcastic roles. It is also one of the many dark psychological dramas of the seventies/eighties, such as "Serie Noire", "Buffet Froid", "Beau Pere", all realized by Blier.
However, I would like to correct the previous comment that was posted on the movie: the translated title in English is very far from the French version. It is true that both protagonists are "going places", but the title in French could be literally translated by "the waltz dancers", which is a metaphor for the movement of the testicles...
However, I would like to correct the previous comment that was posted on the movie: the translated title in English is very far from the French version. It is true that both protagonists are "going places", but the title in French could be literally translated by "the waltz dancers", which is a metaphor for the movement of the testicles...
As deliriously cynical today as ever, this is one of the most masterful dark comedies ever filmed.
TheVid8 November 2002
This mean-spirited French comedy from the mid-seventies retains all it's freshness, even by today's standards. In fact, it's aimless structure and cynical wit would probably be more distressing to audiences now, more than ever (as vacuously preoccupied with good taste as most movies are these days). This is one of many Bertrand Blier films that tackles some of the more obtuse viewpoints on the male's pursuit of happiness. Courageous and effective filmmaking, and a very nice introduction from Gerard Depardieu. No small mention should be made of Stephane Grappelli's spare but brilliant music score. GET OUT YOUR HANDKERCHIEFS and TOO BEAUTIFUL FOR YOU will follow this gem.
Going Nowhere
mjneu5923 November 2010
It's easy to see what made Bertrand Blier's 1974 feature so controversial: his serio-comic portrait of two amoral drifters dares the viewer to laugh while they steal cars, break into houses, terrorize strangers, and share all the women they can lay their hands on. It might have been a Crosby/Hope adventure (The Road to Depravity?) with the two comedians playing a pair of grubby, sex-obsessed delinquents, but the irony of the title is obvious: these boys are going nowhere. The elliptical structure of the film is far more noteworthy than its episodic non-plot (and far less dated than the French fashion trends of the mid 1970s), but Bertrand Blier's typically aloof direction makes it difficult to become involved in the hijinks of two such unsympathetic characters. No one can fault Blier's talent for casting, however: the film made Gerard Depardieu an unlikely international sex symbol, and the obliging bedmate in one of the more disturbing scenes is veteran actress Jeanne Moreau. Elsewhere, the traveling companions also include newcomers Isabelle Huppert and Miou-Miou.
what about the stolen car?
j-kilbourne23 May 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Not sure if this counts as a spoiler or not, so beware:
Just a small but crucial thing to watch for, an intriguing possibility: the boys steal a green Citroen at one point, for a joy ride, and return it to the owner having done purposeful and vengeful hidden damage to the car, hoping that the owner will crash. Is it the very same car they steal much later from the picnicking family? We know the original owner sold it. They drive off at the end on a dangerous road, one which I understand has been closed to all but pedestrians for the last ten years. A whole new slant to the end of the film.
On another matter, this film could have been called "Scent of a Woman". I don't recall another film, certainly not American, that treats the scent of a woman in such a frank and open manner, much like the "nose" of a fine Bordeaux.
Just a small but crucial thing to watch for, an intriguing possibility: the boys steal a green Citroen at one point, for a joy ride, and return it to the owner having done purposeful and vengeful hidden damage to the car, hoping that the owner will crash. Is it the very same car they steal much later from the picnicking family? We know the original owner sold it. They drive off at the end on a dangerous road, one which I understand has been closed to all but pedestrians for the last ten years. A whole new slant to the end of the film.
On another matter, this film could have been called "Scent of a Woman". I don't recall another film, certainly not American, that treats the scent of a woman in such a frank and open manner, much like the "nose" of a fine Bordeaux.
Generally effective
Tito-829 April 1999
This moderately entertaining film runs a little too long considering the sometimes slow pace, but it is still worth watching. There were a number of scenes that seemed dragged out or even needless, but fortunately, things got more consistently entertaining as the film progressed. Probably the best part was when the two young hoodlums meet up with Jeanne Moreau, for it was oddly compelling, but several of the scenes with Miou-Miou worked rather well, too. It was occasionally funny and frequently interesting, and for all the flaws, I still have to recommend it, especially if you're a fan of any of the stars.
this uncompromising and daring film demands respect
christopher-underwood29 January 2007
A wonderful, free flowing, often lyrical film that whisks you along, ever smiling, even if there are truly shocking incidents along the way. One gasps at the way the women are treated and yet ultimately they seem to come through very well and it is much credit to all concerned that so many potentially disastrous scenes all work so very well. This is possibly Depardieu's best performance, certainly his most natural. Jeanne Moreau performs outstandingly in what must have been a very difficult role to play and including vigorous sex scenes with a couple of guys at least half her age. Miou-Miou is lovely throughout and again has very difficult scenes to play. Initially this seems a down and dirty misogynist rant/romp but as the tale and characters unfold a much more tender and honest picture emerges. In the end this uncompromising and daring film demands respect.
Meandering Road Trip
billcr1212 May 2012
Gerard Depardieu and Patrick Dewaere are two small time criminals who spend each day stealing cars, bicycles, and money, seemingly without remorse. Right from the start, we see the pair of misfits following a woman down a street carrying a bag of groceries. At her doorway, they get intimate while eating her food and stealing purse.
They next proceed to take a car for a joy ride and then bring it back to the owner, who pulls a gun and threatens to call the police. He shoots Dewaere in the groin but they manage to get the gun from him and take off with his girlfriend, a young blonde named Marie, who later explains that the guy is her boss at a beauty salon. The trio go to another place and Marie gets it on with a third guy who complains that she just lies there with no emotion during sex. The first two have the same experience with her.
They come upon a middle aged woman walking alone carrying a suitcase. They convince her to tag along with them to a store where she buys clothes with money they provide to her. Next up is a three way at a hotel, after which she kills herself. They find letters in her suitcase from her son who is getting out of prison. They introduce him to their blonde friend, Marie for more sexual escapades. They join him for a supposed robbery which turns into a shootout. Back to Marie in yet another stolen car which breaks down near a lake. They see a family at a picnic and leave with their car and also take the teenage daughter for a ride. She provides more fun for the boys and Going Places doesn't really have a conventional ending.
They next proceed to take a car for a joy ride and then bring it back to the owner, who pulls a gun and threatens to call the police. He shoots Dewaere in the groin but they manage to get the gun from him and take off with his girlfriend, a young blonde named Marie, who later explains that the guy is her boss at a beauty salon. The trio go to another place and Marie gets it on with a third guy who complains that she just lies there with no emotion during sex. The first two have the same experience with her.
They come upon a middle aged woman walking alone carrying a suitcase. They convince her to tag along with them to a store where she buys clothes with money they provide to her. Next up is a three way at a hotel, after which she kills herself. They find letters in her suitcase from her son who is getting out of prison. They introduce him to their blonde friend, Marie for more sexual escapades. They join him for a supposed robbery which turns into a shootout. Back to Marie in yet another stolen car which breaks down near a lake. They see a family at a picnic and leave with their car and also take the teenage daughter for a ride. She provides more fun for the boys and Going Places doesn't really have a conventional ending.
Unrated in the US
Gammonoid9 November 2006
I can remember seeing this movie as a kid in 1977 or 1978. HBO would show it late at night back when they were they one and only movie pay channel in existence. Back then it was UNRATED and was the only movie of its kind ever shown on pay television...especially back then. I would love to see it now as an adult where I would be more apt to understand the adult theme of it. It was probably the closest thing I had ever seen to pornography at the young age of 7 or 8. Luckily I had stupid babysitters and party-going parents on the weekends. Most of my memory of this movie was the completely erratic sexual behavior of these two guys. Breaking into houses to sniff underwear, feeding on a stranger's breast milk on a public bus, and fornicating in a cab at the request of one of their female subjects were just a few of the whacked escapades these guys were pulling off. A very racy film for the early '70s. Until I checked IMDb, I had no idea this movie had such a following. Most people I talk to have never heard of it.
I feel uneasy by the number of good reviews this movie has/had gotten
harshk923 June 2022
I understand why this movie has favorable reviews from users. I am a straight guy and I know why other guys would like this kind of stuff. The two leads do horrible things to women and the women comply to be their sexual objects and even enjoy it. So there's a lot of cheap enjoyment to be had if you are that kind of person. What's surprising are the favorable reviews from critics at that time. There are other movies showing sexual depravity to even more extremes but they don't pretend that what's happening in those movies is okay behaviour. I wonder what women think when they see such movies. I'd be pretty scared if I were a woman and there was a guy with me watching this and having a laugh.
One big kick in the groin of good taste and social convenance...
ElMaruecan8231 May 2023
"They don't make movies like this anymore" has been used for so many movies but in the case of "Les Valseuses" (or "Going Places") you might say, "they can't make movies like this anymore". Whether it's a positive or a negative is a matter of opinion.
From the way I see it, only a gender swap would justify a remake for it's impossible to imagine a filmmaker making a film, let alone a debut, about two marginals at the prime of their masculine strength enjoying harassing and assaulting women, making us wish they could 'just' keep on stealing cars or money. It's quite fitting that the title is a slang term meaning "balls" in French as that's what it takes to dare concoct such a vitriolic story, even in the liberated post-68 France. One can despise Bertand Blier's misuse of talents but not without admiring his nerve.
The film met with commercial success and was one of the highest-grossing of the year only topped by the erotic "Emmanuelle". I guess the timing worked in favor of Blier for the cinematic community was eager to embrace a sort of free-spirited joyful anarchical ride by thugs who don't give a damn about the consequences of their action in their quests for instant pleasures. It's a revenge of the "populo" against the little ones and the weaselly bourgeois hiding in the limited coziness of their suburban life.
The opening sequence says it all, Jean-Claude played by Depardieu is sitting in a caddie (the symbol of consumerist society) pushed by Pierrot (Patrick Dewaere), they swing across a deserted street, preying on a fat woman they end up cornering next to her apartment, steal her purse after stealing a few kisses. The scene is not enjoyable but has the merit of setting the tone, making the starting point of your rooting below "zero" and it's a credit to a solid narrative and the incredible writing talent of Blier (who wrote the original 72 novel) to make these characters reach a certain point of likability.
They're no better at the end, but they realize sex and money can't be the only drivers, there's got to be more than or behind that. The caddie scene already established them as drifters and vagabonds, but that's the stuff poetry was made off and in the first post-war oli-crisis, where good society looked for scapegoats, they were targets, too. And so when they bring a stolen car back to its owner Pierrot gets shot in the groin. Their only trophy is Marie-Ange (Miou-Miou) a worker used and abused by the car owner. Point is made that even the victims aren't always innocent in that rigged game of life.
One could see a tactical trick from Blier who doesn't make us root for his antiheroes rather than show the rest no better than them, but there are exceptions: the doctor who heals Pierrot isn't immune to a robbery, Jean-Claude even makes the sinister threat of "paying goodnight to his children". And later in a train, they watch a woman (Brigitte Fossey) breastfeeding her baby and one thing leading to another, Pierrot suckles the woman's breast while Jean-Claude titillates her. Now that's hardly a detail and as horrific as the scene is (and it is) it mostly highlights the insecurity of the thugs and their incapability to draw moral lines into their actions. A honest question would be "why"?
They're bad guys, but indeed, why? Marie-Ange is used as a sexual object and while Jean-Claude is having a good time, she doesn't. Pierrot can't bring himself to pleasure fearing impotence from the wound. Earlier, the car mechanic took Marie-Ange as a 'benefit in kind' but got upset because she was frigid. Marie-Ange is the catalyst character in the way she reveals the limit of the Pierrot and Jean-Claude's hedonism, inasmuch as they want to bring her to pleasure, they're so focused on their own that ultimately it backfires at them. It might explain Pierrot's need for tenderness in the infamous train sequence, a wish to reassure himself that it's still working. It's a quest of pleasure but unlike money, it takes two to get it, and it's a miracle that nothing coming close to a real rape is shown.
I guess that would have prompted people to walk out the theaters and Ebert himself, hated the film for its uncompromising sociopathy, saying Bertrand Blier (who wrote the original novel) almost presented himself as a man one would like to spend time with. Still, despite the virulent criticism it got in France, the film became the equivalent of "Easy Riders". There is wildness, unpredictability but even a tenderness during a segment where the duo meets a former inmate played by Jeanne Moreau, a woman they wish to bring her as much pleasure as she needs. Ultimately even Marie-Ange would reach the fourth sky and as the plot moves forward, the film gets a little less macho-centric. And by playing it a little less 'fast and furious', the two thugs become more genuinely appealing.
And their appeal with a teenager named Jacqueline (Isabelle Huppert) speaks volume about the way self-proclaimed and careless rebels are regarded, like romantic figures. Any lesser film would have made it look manipulative but Dewaere and Depardieu have such great chemistry and are so complementary, one is nervous and cerebral, the other is flamboyant and exuberant, so maybe the success of the film lies in that simple truth, with the right cast, you can get away with everything, except for a few scenes. But to call Blier misogynistic would be unfair, unlike "Last Tango in Paris", the shooting went well, no polemic resurfaced and even Miou-Miou said she had great memories (she even worked with Blier again).
And thankfully, Blier would sign other great movies where women would be treated with more consideration, but heneeded one shocker, one punch in the guts of good taste and social convenience to put himself in the radar. And so he did.
From the way I see it, only a gender swap would justify a remake for it's impossible to imagine a filmmaker making a film, let alone a debut, about two marginals at the prime of their masculine strength enjoying harassing and assaulting women, making us wish they could 'just' keep on stealing cars or money. It's quite fitting that the title is a slang term meaning "balls" in French as that's what it takes to dare concoct such a vitriolic story, even in the liberated post-68 France. One can despise Bertand Blier's misuse of talents but not without admiring his nerve.
The film met with commercial success and was one of the highest-grossing of the year only topped by the erotic "Emmanuelle". I guess the timing worked in favor of Blier for the cinematic community was eager to embrace a sort of free-spirited joyful anarchical ride by thugs who don't give a damn about the consequences of their action in their quests for instant pleasures. It's a revenge of the "populo" against the little ones and the weaselly bourgeois hiding in the limited coziness of their suburban life.
The opening sequence says it all, Jean-Claude played by Depardieu is sitting in a caddie (the symbol of consumerist society) pushed by Pierrot (Patrick Dewaere), they swing across a deserted street, preying on a fat woman they end up cornering next to her apartment, steal her purse after stealing a few kisses. The scene is not enjoyable but has the merit of setting the tone, making the starting point of your rooting below "zero" and it's a credit to a solid narrative and the incredible writing talent of Blier (who wrote the original 72 novel) to make these characters reach a certain point of likability.
They're no better at the end, but they realize sex and money can't be the only drivers, there's got to be more than or behind that. The caddie scene already established them as drifters and vagabonds, but that's the stuff poetry was made off and in the first post-war oli-crisis, where good society looked for scapegoats, they were targets, too. And so when they bring a stolen car back to its owner Pierrot gets shot in the groin. Their only trophy is Marie-Ange (Miou-Miou) a worker used and abused by the car owner. Point is made that even the victims aren't always innocent in that rigged game of life.
One could see a tactical trick from Blier who doesn't make us root for his antiheroes rather than show the rest no better than them, but there are exceptions: the doctor who heals Pierrot isn't immune to a robbery, Jean-Claude even makes the sinister threat of "paying goodnight to his children". And later in a train, they watch a woman (Brigitte Fossey) breastfeeding her baby and one thing leading to another, Pierrot suckles the woman's breast while Jean-Claude titillates her. Now that's hardly a detail and as horrific as the scene is (and it is) it mostly highlights the insecurity of the thugs and their incapability to draw moral lines into their actions. A honest question would be "why"?
They're bad guys, but indeed, why? Marie-Ange is used as a sexual object and while Jean-Claude is having a good time, she doesn't. Pierrot can't bring himself to pleasure fearing impotence from the wound. Earlier, the car mechanic took Marie-Ange as a 'benefit in kind' but got upset because she was frigid. Marie-Ange is the catalyst character in the way she reveals the limit of the Pierrot and Jean-Claude's hedonism, inasmuch as they want to bring her to pleasure, they're so focused on their own that ultimately it backfires at them. It might explain Pierrot's need for tenderness in the infamous train sequence, a wish to reassure himself that it's still working. It's a quest of pleasure but unlike money, it takes two to get it, and it's a miracle that nothing coming close to a real rape is shown.
I guess that would have prompted people to walk out the theaters and Ebert himself, hated the film for its uncompromising sociopathy, saying Bertrand Blier (who wrote the original novel) almost presented himself as a man one would like to spend time with. Still, despite the virulent criticism it got in France, the film became the equivalent of "Easy Riders". There is wildness, unpredictability but even a tenderness during a segment where the duo meets a former inmate played by Jeanne Moreau, a woman they wish to bring her as much pleasure as she needs. Ultimately even Marie-Ange would reach the fourth sky and as the plot moves forward, the film gets a little less macho-centric. And by playing it a little less 'fast and furious', the two thugs become more genuinely appealing.
And their appeal with a teenager named Jacqueline (Isabelle Huppert) speaks volume about the way self-proclaimed and careless rebels are regarded, like romantic figures. Any lesser film would have made it look manipulative but Dewaere and Depardieu have such great chemistry and are so complementary, one is nervous and cerebral, the other is flamboyant and exuberant, so maybe the success of the film lies in that simple truth, with the right cast, you can get away with everything, except for a few scenes. But to call Blier misogynistic would be unfair, unlike "Last Tango in Paris", the shooting went well, no polemic resurfaced and even Miou-Miou said she had great memories (she even worked with Blier again).
And thankfully, Blier would sign other great movies where women would be treated with more consideration, but heneeded one shocker, one punch in the guts of good taste and social convenience to put himself in the radar. And so he did.
A must-see for any Depardieu fan
llivingston9 February 2000
This film is a stunning piece that will convince even the most skeptical viewer that Gerard Depardieu is one of the finest film actors of the last 50 years. His performance shocks, entertains, disgusts and charms you while leaving you breathless. This film was shot in the very early days of his film career and is very raw, but still is able to convey the mastery of Depardieu. A must-see for any Depardieu fan and by far his best early work.
To dance a valse you need to be elegant, but going places you don't.
liangdong28 August 2003
Not so many people like the movies of Bertrand blier simply because they don't understand them. Simply because they are different kinds of people.
If you have not been living under a deep desperation intertwined with great personal hope it may be hard for you to enjoy the humor blier shown here.
And also the film of blier cannot be classified easily as black-comedy or cult etc. like those of pulp fiction etc. Because there is this delicacy which the audience of north-america frequently fail to appreciate.
When I looked at these two `hooligans' dining with Jeanne moreau in the seaside restaurant, I felt they were more gentil than any gentleman can have been.
The urge to make love wildly like these is the normal reaction we feel under the unbearable pressure of meaningless being-symbolized by the camion suddenly emerges at the Carrefour.
SO, les valseuses is much better a name than going places. To dance a valse you need to be elegant, but going places you don't.
If you have not been living under a deep desperation intertwined with great personal hope it may be hard for you to enjoy the humor blier shown here.
And also the film of blier cannot be classified easily as black-comedy or cult etc. like those of pulp fiction etc. Because there is this delicacy which the audience of north-america frequently fail to appreciate.
When I looked at these two `hooligans' dining with Jeanne moreau in the seaside restaurant, I felt they were more gentil than any gentleman can have been.
The urge to make love wildly like these is the normal reaction we feel under the unbearable pressure of meaningless being-symbolized by the camion suddenly emerges at the Carrefour.
SO, les valseuses is much better a name than going places. To dance a valse you need to be elegant, but going places you don't.
LES VALSEUSES (DIDIER BECU)
Didier-Becu26 October 2003
Bertrand Blier is indeed l'enfant terrible of French cinema and in the seventies he always could shock the public. Filmed with his fave duo (Depardieu and Dewaere) and the usual dose of sex (Miou-Miou plays her typical role, at least the one from the seventies as little could we know that a decade later she would be the best French actress ever). In first "Les Valseuses" is also one of the first roadmovies as the viewer is just taken to some journeys of two little criminals. Those who only are satisfied with family life, or simply know nothing more, the movie would be quite a shocker but this movie is more than just that, it just let you think of all the usual things in life (working for the car, being bounded at work etc.). It's a sort of critic towards the hypocrite society we're living in. Great job and it just makes you wish two things : Dewaere died just too young as he was a topactor and of course Depardieu, he'd better should have stuck with French movies as he proves here that no one can beat him. Timeless classic and 20 years later it will still shock some...
One of the nastiest movies ever
HotToastyRag1 August 2019
As much as I hated this movie, I can't hate it entirely because it propelled one of my favorite actors, Gérard Depardieu, into instant stardom. The only reason I kept watching it all the way through was to give his breakthrough film proper respect.
Going Places is not my cup of tea at all. Two drifters, Gérard Depardieu and Patrick Dewaere, wreck havoc, commit crimes, and have a lot of sex with different women. A simple diagnostic, but that's really the entire movie.
First, they pick up Miou-Miou, a hairdresser-and by pick up, I mean kidnap. Gérard and Patrick take turns with her in bed, but since she's not as responsive as they'd like, they give up on her. They give her the ol' college try, believe me. I'm shocked this movie wasn't X-rated. At the time, it was the nastiest movie I'd ever seen, and in the past nine years since, I've only seen one film that was filthier. In the beginning, there's an extremely nasty scene that serves to separate the ladies from the girls. Gérard and Patrick are riding on a bus and fondle Brigitte Fossey, a total stranger, so explicitly, it's embarrassing to watch. When she leaves the bus and is greeted by her husband, the two hellions giggle to themselves that she'll be thinking of them later on while she's with her husband. If you can't handle that scene, you can't handle the rest of the movie. It only gets worse: more explicit, more sick, more upsetting.
After Miou-Miou, they pick up Jeanne Moreau and add her to the mix-yes, I mean that literally. Once she's out of the picture, in an extremely upsetting scene that unfortunately hasn't left my brain over the past nine years, they return to Miou-Miou. More crimes, more sex scenes, and then finally, Isabelle Huppert, an innocent teenager. Do you think they take pity on her innocence, or do you think they corrupt her? If you can't guess the answer to that, you really shouldn't be watching this movie.
As for anyone who should be watching this movie, there's really a limited ideal audience. Those who really love nasty foreign movies, and those who think any one of the leads is wildly attractive and want to watch him or her in the nastiest R-rated movie ever made. Anyone else will probably be scared for life. And feminists, don't even think about renting it. The depiction of mindless women who allow themselves to be used like sex toys without any thought to pregnancy, STDs, or self-respect will make you go crazy. Jeanne Moreau's character is the only one who seems to understand the repercussions of such despicable behavior, and the most upsetting scene comes after her realization.
Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to nudity, violence, and graphic sex scenes, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.
Going Places is not my cup of tea at all. Two drifters, Gérard Depardieu and Patrick Dewaere, wreck havoc, commit crimes, and have a lot of sex with different women. A simple diagnostic, but that's really the entire movie.
First, they pick up Miou-Miou, a hairdresser-and by pick up, I mean kidnap. Gérard and Patrick take turns with her in bed, but since she's not as responsive as they'd like, they give up on her. They give her the ol' college try, believe me. I'm shocked this movie wasn't X-rated. At the time, it was the nastiest movie I'd ever seen, and in the past nine years since, I've only seen one film that was filthier. In the beginning, there's an extremely nasty scene that serves to separate the ladies from the girls. Gérard and Patrick are riding on a bus and fondle Brigitte Fossey, a total stranger, so explicitly, it's embarrassing to watch. When she leaves the bus and is greeted by her husband, the two hellions giggle to themselves that she'll be thinking of them later on while she's with her husband. If you can't handle that scene, you can't handle the rest of the movie. It only gets worse: more explicit, more sick, more upsetting.
After Miou-Miou, they pick up Jeanne Moreau and add her to the mix-yes, I mean that literally. Once she's out of the picture, in an extremely upsetting scene that unfortunately hasn't left my brain over the past nine years, they return to Miou-Miou. More crimes, more sex scenes, and then finally, Isabelle Huppert, an innocent teenager. Do you think they take pity on her innocence, or do you think they corrupt her? If you can't guess the answer to that, you really shouldn't be watching this movie.
As for anyone who should be watching this movie, there's really a limited ideal audience. Those who really love nasty foreign movies, and those who think any one of the leads is wildly attractive and want to watch him or her in the nastiest R-rated movie ever made. Anyone else will probably be scared for life. And feminists, don't even think about renting it. The depiction of mindless women who allow themselves to be used like sex toys without any thought to pregnancy, STDs, or self-respect will make you go crazy. Jeanne Moreau's character is the only one who seems to understand the repercussions of such despicable behavior, and the most upsetting scene comes after her realization.
Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to nudity, violence, and graphic sex scenes, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.
Rebels without a ... car
kosmasp5 August 2020
There will be people who are able to fully identify with our two main actors (and/or the main female in this), but there may also be some who can't really get their deal entirely. I don't think the characters are or should be role models. On the other hand, the struggle is real. If you are not able to see or have a goal, what do you do? Where do you go? How do you achieve satisfaction? (very much pun intended in this case).
Now having said that, the acting is more than rock solid and while there are cringe worthy scenes (some things feel like at least sexual harassment, until the female involved caves in, like in the train), viewers may experience them differently. Especially considering the free loving decade this was shot and made in. There's a vibe here that you have to accept. Some things are easier to swallow others not so much. But while there is a lot of innuendo and a lot of sexual situation (including a lot of nudity), this is not so much titilating as it is funny. Still more of a road movie/drama, this is quite the experience and voyage one takes with those mischiefs/small time crooks ...
Now having said that, the acting is more than rock solid and while there are cringe worthy scenes (some things feel like at least sexual harassment, until the female involved caves in, like in the train), viewers may experience them differently. Especially considering the free loving decade this was shot and made in. There's a vibe here that you have to accept. Some things are easier to swallow others not so much. But while there is a lot of innuendo and a lot of sexual situation (including a lot of nudity), this is not so much titilating as it is funny. Still more of a road movie/drama, this is quite the experience and voyage one takes with those mischiefs/small time crooks ...
French Hippy Classic
Aw-komon16 August 2000
Depardieu's most notorious film is this (1974)groundbreaker from Bertrand Blier. It features many highly sexual scenes verging on an X-rating, including one of Jeanne Moreau doing a hot 1970s version of her Jules and Jim menage a trois with the two hairy French hippies (Depardieu and Deware). There is no such thing as a sacred territory in this film; everything is fair game.
It's very odd that Americans tend to not like this film very much while many French people I've met consider it a classic. Something about it goes against what Americans have been programmed to 'like.'
Gerard and the late Patrick Deware are two bitch-slapping, hippy drifters with many sexual insecurities, going around molesting women and committing petty crimes. They're out for kicks and anti-capitalist, Euro-commie, slacker 'freedom.' Blier satirizes the hell out of these two guys while at the same time making bourgeois society itself look ultimately much more ridiculous. Best of all though, is the way the wonderful Stephane Grappelli score conveys the restless soul of the drifters, the deeper subconscious awareness or 'higher ideal' that motivates all the follies they engage in.
It's very odd that Americans tend to not like this film very much while many French people I've met consider it a classic. Something about it goes against what Americans have been programmed to 'like.'
Gerard and the late Patrick Deware are two bitch-slapping, hippy drifters with many sexual insecurities, going around molesting women and committing petty crimes. They're out for kicks and anti-capitalist, Euro-commie, slacker 'freedom.' Blier satirizes the hell out of these two guys while at the same time making bourgeois society itself look ultimately much more ridiculous. Best of all though, is the way the wonderful Stephane Grappelli score conveys the restless soul of the drifters, the deeper subconscious awareness or 'higher ideal' that motivates all the follies they engage in.
Les Valseuses:A Bertrand Blier film which sees a constant rise in its "shock value".
FilmCriticLalitRao26 June 2013
As a film which challenges the limits of roguishness, "Les Valseuses" is based on the eponymous best selling book written by Bertrand Blier which sold over 75,000 copies in France. This film makes a lot of sense as it shocked audiences beyond belief at the time of its initial release and would continue to shock many generations to come. As the film is rather disquieting and not exactly vulgar, a lot of questions would be asked regarding the general bad behavior of its protagonists who don't have a clue as to why there are times when fun loving goes out of control ? Bertrand Blier, one of French cinema's most innovative directors, was influential in furthering his actors' careers as French actresses Isabelle Huppert and Mio Miou saw their careers advance as a result of this film's success. Some other actors associated with this film too saw a veritable advancement of their respective careers. Actress Jeanne Moreau, who is considered as one of French cinema's most vivacious chatterboxes, was revealed by him in the best silent role of her acting career. Actress Brigitte Fossey made her presence vital to the story although she had a minor role with hints of sexual aggression. For Gérard Depardieu, playing a hooligan came naturally as he had experienced hooliganism as a youngster in his native town Châteauroux. For Patrick Dewaere,"Les Valseuses" was a good opportunity to excel alongside Depardieu in a role where he became good friends with Miou Miou too. Lastly, "Les Valseuses" would be remembered as a film wherein Bertrand Blier imposed his anti conformist stance against French society and its false values.
Great
EdgarST15 June 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Bertrand Blier's anarchic comedy is full of artistic resonance, and it sure has a special meaning to me: not only because a friend of mine made me see it to let me know what he wanted to do (oh, those labyrinthine tactics of old...!), but for it took two icons of French film heritage and put them upside down. First, that Moreau woman, of "Ascenseur pour l'échafaud", "Moderato cantabile" and "Jules & Jim" fame, makes love to the two boys before killing herself, and then la Fossey, the same actress that I had seen as a little girl in "Forbidden Games" was surprisingly playing a middle-class housewife in a bus, had her bare breasts fondled by the pair of petty thugs played by Depardieu and Dewaere. It changed my vision of French cinema, as it said bye-bye to the angst of the nihilist "nouvelle vague" and proposed anarchy as an antidote to stagnation. Of course there was also Miou-Miou, and next in line a future icon (Miss Isabelle), topped by an ironic ending for all.
Only women bleed........
kieronboote-134-9694726 April 2014
Warning: Spoilers
I originally saw this film over 20 years and quite recently I had the misfortune to see it again. What a misogynistic, puerile, lousy excuse for a film it is.
Bertrand Blier wasn't an "enfant terrible" when he made this film he was 35 and so these weren't the rape fantasies of some pathetic teen they represent the fully formed world-view of a man approaching middle age.
At the time of its release the film was something of a cause celebre and to have criticised it I'm sure would have resulted in a person being criticised for having petite bourgeois and reactionary tendencies. Yet it is this film which is extremely reactionary in its treatment and depiction of women. The story concerns the bullying, cowardice, theft, rape, assault, vandalism and petty crime spree of two aimless low life's played by Gerard Depardieu Patrick Dewaere. The main female character, played by Miou Miou, is subjected to slaps, near drowning and rape and discovers that she can only achieve an orgasm herself after providing some young virgin with an orgasm, as if the true source of woman's pleasure is to please men. From there is gets even more offensive. The great Jean Moreau - what on earth is she doing in this garbage? – plays a character who is depicted as a post menopausal woman, grateful for the sexual gratification provided by the two charmless nit wits and who, because she can "no longer bleed", decides to end her life in a final act of bleeding. An act of cheap shock tactics designed to boost Blier's controversial reputation but in reality an act that says that all post menopausal serve no purpose when they can no longer have babies. After all what else are woman for in Blier's sad little mind other than to have babies or be sexually abused? And whilst we are on the subject of babies, let's not forget the scene where the two "heroes" molest a mother who is breast feeding a baby on a train and obviously her response is to be so grateful to the two idiots for abusing her in this way that she becomes lost in a sexual frenzy. What does Blier offer to explain this behaviour? Well obviously it is all the fault of tedious society as depicted, oh so obviously, by some out of season seaside resort.
As for those who claim that the film is funny, well humour is a personal thing and I can find humour in a film like "Man Bites Dog" because of its satirical elements but if you think this is funny then you really must have a very condescending view of the working class and a primitive view of women in general.
I did not find this film offensive because I am a prude and I can fully appreciate the power of controversial films like "Salo" or "Irreversible". But this has none of the technical virtuosity of Noe's film or the political charge of Pasolini. This is just old fashioned and woman hating. Throughout his career Blier continued to peddle this sort of idiotic nonsense, his view of a more enlightened approach to depict women was to provide his female characters with similar roles to those provided to the two male leads in this film. Yes Blier thought that equality for women meant that women could behave just as hideously as his male characters. Fortunately with the passing of time Blier's catalogue, basically the mindless drivel of a man who is scared of women, is now being consigned to the trash can of history where it deserves to be placed. Once thought of as a startling new talent with the passage of time Blier can be seen for the minor talent and even smaller intellect that he truly is.
Bertrand Blier wasn't an "enfant terrible" when he made this film he was 35 and so these weren't the rape fantasies of some pathetic teen they represent the fully formed world-view of a man approaching middle age.
At the time of its release the film was something of a cause celebre and to have criticised it I'm sure would have resulted in a person being criticised for having petite bourgeois and reactionary tendencies. Yet it is this film which is extremely reactionary in its treatment and depiction of women. The story concerns the bullying, cowardice, theft, rape, assault, vandalism and petty crime spree of two aimless low life's played by Gerard Depardieu Patrick Dewaere. The main female character, played by Miou Miou, is subjected to slaps, near drowning and rape and discovers that she can only achieve an orgasm herself after providing some young virgin with an orgasm, as if the true source of woman's pleasure is to please men. From there is gets even more offensive. The great Jean Moreau - what on earth is she doing in this garbage? – plays a character who is depicted as a post menopausal woman, grateful for the sexual gratification provided by the two charmless nit wits and who, because she can "no longer bleed", decides to end her life in a final act of bleeding. An act of cheap shock tactics designed to boost Blier's controversial reputation but in reality an act that says that all post menopausal serve no purpose when they can no longer have babies. After all what else are woman for in Blier's sad little mind other than to have babies or be sexually abused? And whilst we are on the subject of babies, let's not forget the scene where the two "heroes" molest a mother who is breast feeding a baby on a train and obviously her response is to be so grateful to the two idiots for abusing her in this way that she becomes lost in a sexual frenzy. What does Blier offer to explain this behaviour? Well obviously it is all the fault of tedious society as depicted, oh so obviously, by some out of season seaside resort.
As for those who claim that the film is funny, well humour is a personal thing and I can find humour in a film like "Man Bites Dog" because of its satirical elements but if you think this is funny then you really must have a very condescending view of the working class and a primitive view of women in general.
I did not find this film offensive because I am a prude and I can fully appreciate the power of controversial films like "Salo" or "Irreversible". But this has none of the technical virtuosity of Noe's film or the political charge of Pasolini. This is just old fashioned and woman hating. Throughout his career Blier continued to peddle this sort of idiotic nonsense, his view of a more enlightened approach to depict women was to provide his female characters with similar roles to those provided to the two male leads in this film. Yes Blier thought that equality for women meant that women could behave just as hideously as his male characters. Fortunately with the passing of time Blier's catalogue, basically the mindless drivel of a man who is scared of women, is now being consigned to the trash can of history where it deserves to be placed. Once thought of as a startling new talent with the passage of time Blier can be seen for the minor talent and even smaller intellect that he truly is.
Close to the INTENSE LIFE
corconnery8 August 2005
I remember hitch hiking to Spain at 25, getting a lift from, what turned out to be, two fleeing Italian small crooks. They were doing a lot outside the law, but from the other side carrying a little portrait of Jesus in the pocket for their protection...Just and unjust, good and bad, criminal and correct where here in a new combination, outside of the categories I used to know. 'Les Valseuses' gives me, although a film and not real life, a picture close to my own experiences: the intenseness of each moment as soon as you leave 'all behind' and go for the momentous, whatever comes your way, it's another state of mind and also 'dangerous' form of life, because, as we all know, there are people who are not ready for this and willing to persecute you for 'stealing' and so on...This film touches 'values', it's a story about 'what's right and wrong': morals. It's resurrection of the individual fighting him/ herself free against the 'false morals' and conformism...There's danger all the way, because, how far can you go with your own 'freedom' and crossing your own moral borders and that of other people? What to do with people who are willing to hurt you, put you in jail or even shoot at you for the things that you do, like "stealing" some petrol from a multinational oil company for you fifth hand car? Les Valseuses re-awakens these questions in me, because morality, in contradiction to the usual 'media message', is quite complex...
A weird romp across France
knucklebreather19 October 2012
"Going Places" is the English title of a 1974 French film with two of the famous actors of the era, Gérard Depardieu and Patrick Dewaere, as freewheeling hoodlums of highly questionable morality. The episodic movie follows their adventures as they try to, among other things, live without working and give pleasure to frigid to women. The latter endeavor includes seducing a soldier's bride on a train, literally chasing a woman through the streets, picking up a woman randomly as she leaves prison, and what becomes their ultimate challenge, giving pleasure to Marie-Ange, who is all too willing to have sex but has never had an orgasm.
No one would ever accuse this movie of being politically correct. It is sexist, the heroes are brutish criminals, but the point isn't really that they're doing anything noble or should be forgiven for their sins. It is more of a meditation on self destruction, although I think the fun of this movie is just the tragic black comedy of their hopeless adventures, not analyzing it for some deeper meaning.
I enjoyed the soundtrack a lot, well the main theme that kept being repeated, and the credit music was a perfect coda. This is a great French film from the 70s, check it out.
No one would ever accuse this movie of being politically correct. It is sexist, the heroes are brutish criminals, but the point isn't really that they're doing anything noble or should be forgiven for their sins. It is more of a meditation on self destruction, although I think the fun of this movie is just the tragic black comedy of their hopeless adventures, not analyzing it for some deeper meaning.
I enjoyed the soundtrack a lot, well the main theme that kept being repeated, and the credit music was a perfect coda. This is a great French film from the 70s, check it out.
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