May Fools (1990)

During the events of May 1968 in France, different worldviews of conflicting relatives are collide in their family estate.

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

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 At the Movies: Die Hard 2/Ghost Dad/Days of Thunder/May Fools (1990)

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Soundtracks

Prélude: 'Général Lavine' Eccentric
Music by Claude Debussy

User Reviews

Magical Malle

I've long felt that Louis Malle was my favourite French director. Pushing out the cinematic envelope with his honest perceptions about real people, but with a sort of steady verve. They can be challenging, always absorbing but none like Milou in May -

• which is one of wonderfully loose 'no lectures today' sort of light comedies about the country-set all getting hot and bothered about sorting out funeral arrangements. The fact is that there's a national strike which causes difficulties for the various interested parties in getting there and that Paris is literally burning with the '68 student riots. But those same facts are wonderfully incidental, revealing maybe how different the upper middle class country retreats are away from poor, clashing students in the big City. Physically, socially and economically.

A playful Stefan Grapelli score delights, with a lush, so lush (it IS May) cinematography which added the cream on top of the cake, with added witty dialogue, and almost fantastical characters. They might be a little caricatured, but with an oh! so, charismatic lead. We all dreamed of uncles like that when we were ten years old! As they hang about waiting for the rest to turn up, the lazy, hazy May afternoon strolls on, with a wisp of sex and drug taking, it's an intoxicating blend of slight naughtiness to spice up a usually (for most people) unpleasant but necessary gathering.

This is Kodachrome Malle, rather than his monochrome.

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

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1