May Fools (1990)

Like Vanya, in Malle's last film, Milou never left the family estate. His mother dies during the May 1968 student uprising in Paris. The brother who is the London correspondent for Le Monde... See full summary »

Director:

Louis Malle

Writers:

Louis Malle (scenario), Jean-Claude Carrière (scenario)

Stars:

Miou-Miou, Michel Piccoli, Michel Duchaussoy

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 2 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Miou-Miou	...	Camille
Michel Piccoli	...	Milou
Michel Duchaussoy	...	Georges
Bruno Carette	...	Grimaldi
Paulette Dubost	...	Mrs. Vieuzac
Harriet Walter	...	Lily
Martine Gautier	...	Adele
Rozenne Le Tallec	...	Marie-Laure
Jeanne Herry	...	Françoise (as Jeanne Herry-Leclerc)
Renaud Danner	...	Pierre-Alain
François Berléand	...	Daniel
Dominique Blanc	...	Claire
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Serge Angeloff	...	Adele's fiancé
Anne-Marie Bonange	...	Neighbor
Marcel Bories	...	Leonce

Storyline

Like Vanya, in Malle's last film, Milou never left the family estate. His mother dies during the May 1968 student uprising in Paris. The brother who is the London correspondent for Le Monde keeps turning up the volume of the radio for the latest news. A deceased sister's interest in the estate is represented by a niece who is an antique dealer, who is most interested in grandmother's emerald ring that Milou's daughter Camille has already slipped on her finger. A non-relative, a truck driver who can't deliver his load of tomatoes in Paris, brings a nephew who was part of the uprising. Everyone is on strike and the matriarch can't be buried.

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Plot Keywords:

dancing around corpse | year 1968 | comedy of manners | sophisticated comedy | political satire | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French English

Release Date:

July 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

May Fools

Filming Locations:

Château du Calaoue, Gers, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$20,078, 24 June 1990

Gross USA:

$1,576,702

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,576,702

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nouvelles Éditions de Films (NEF), TF1 Films Production, Ellepi Films

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jeanne Herry, who plays Françoise (the little girl) is the real-life daughter of Miou-Miou. In 2014 she directed her first feature film, 'Elle l'adore', starring Sandrine Kiberlain and Laurent Lafitte.

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Connections

Featured in Zomergasten: Episode #5.2 (1992)

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Soundtracks

Prélude: 'Général Lavine' Eccentric
Music by Claude Debussy

User Reviews

Worth a watch but probably only one.

Took this out of the Louis Malle box without paying too much attention and was not aware of the date, or that the title translated to 'May Fools'. So once the family are back at their country house after the death of their mother and the background news is of the '68 Paris riots, I'm assuming this is a vaguely contemporary film. But no, as becomes increasingly obvious this is 20 years on and a look back at those 'mad' country folk with more money than sense. It is an engaging but slight film with a rather pretentious element that gets i the way of the slight humour and vague attempts at political insight. Piccoli is great as ever and Miou-Miou as lovely as ever. Worth a watch but probably only one.