Product Details

• Actors: Miou-Miou, Michel Piccoli, Michel Duchaussoy, Paulette Dubost, Harriet Walter
• Directors: Louis Malle
• Producers: May Fools ( Milou en mai ) ( Milou a maggio ), May Fools, Milou en mai, Milou a maggio
• Format: Import, PAL, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 4 (Read more about DVD formats.)
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: AV Channel
• Run Time: 107 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000IHVG12
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #196,664 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Australia released, PAL/Region 4 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada: LANGUAGES: French ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), English ( Subtitles ), ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN (1.85:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Interactive Menu, SYNOPSIS: This comic excursion from Louis Malle is set in May 1968, concurrent with a series of Parisian student uprisings. After the death of family matriarch Mme. Vieuzac (Paulette Dubost), the survivors converge on the French countryside for her funeral; they include her two sons, Milou (Michel Piccoli) and Georges (Michel Duchaussoy); Camille (Miou-Miou), Milou's daughter; Camille's husband and children; and granddaughter Claire (Dominique Blanc), a lesbian. With the latest news of rebellion from Paris as their soundtrack, the family members argue over property, revive long-simmering arguments, and watch in dismay as an unlikely love affair begins. When the student uprising threatens to spill over into their community, the family heads for the hills, where the great outdoors only intensifies their reunion. SCREENED/AWARDED AT: BAFTA Awards, Ceasar Awards, David Donatello Awards, ...May Fools ( Milou en mai ) ( Milou a maggio )

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars midsummer nights social comedy, April 7, 2002

By 

Doug Anderson (Miami Beach, Florida United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: May Fools [VHS] (VHS Tape)

With a hint of Renoir's Rules of the Game as well as Chekov's Cherry Orchard, and everything in between this town and country comedy begins with the tragedy of the family matriarchs death. The extended family gathers for a weekend funeral but the ceremony is delayed because of a workers strike which has brought life to a standstill. In the stillness of the country the weekend turns into an extended retreat that becomes more and more bohemian and brazen as the country air and contact with the soil has put each character in contact with their true desires and it seems everyone is with the wrong person. An all day picnic in the sun turns into a partner swapping party but is interrupted at the last minute when rumours of government collapse reach the isolated country estate. Fearing that an all out revolution has begun the family packs up and hikes into the woods until they finally end up in a cave in an ultimate act of cultural regression. Great cast of characters make up the family members and their spouses and lovers(including hippie, lesbian, revolutionary student, resentful daughter, unsupecting heiress maid, ....). The odd assortment makes for a volatile social mix leading to all kinds of destabilising conversations and confrontations which threaten to undermine the family structure from within. Malle cleverly has the family itself come unhinged as they attempt to act out in the personal sphere those revolutionary philosophies being put forth in the public. Everyone has different notions so the result is chaos, unrestrained anarchy, but it remains funny and entertaining all the way through. As well Malle provides wise and pointed observations with a surprising amount of social insight along the way. In short you get a lot more than you might have bargained for but you're glad to get it.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Connected to Place, April 7, 2000

By 

Bonnie McGill Martin (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: May Fools [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Urban, suburban, rootless, nomadic: if these words describe your experience, this film will leave you cold. Agrarian, transplanted, uprooted, trying to re-connect to a rich family tradition? This film is for you. The plight of a man who is part of the land, and whose land is part of him, really moved me. This film asks, "What do you value, and why?" It affirms the worth of connectedness, continuity, and deep roots, while challenging our cultural idols of speed, change, and the new.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The funniest movie about the 60s ever, February 1, 2007

By 

A. Burke "adrien rain burke" (Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: May Fools ( Milou en mai ) ( Milou a maggio ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.4 Import - Australia ] (DVD)

. . . and it comes from France! Set around a funeral, a family gathered - perhaps for the very last time - in grief, and in the midst of a near-revolution, The May Fools manages to cover the entire history of the 60s through hope, euphoria, and paranoia, back to a cynical, sad reality. Still one of the funniest movies ever made.

I am fortunate to have an old video tape of it. I am writing this in the hope that someday it will be released on DVD for American audiences.