Customer Reviews

Going Places

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an antiestablishment film, focused on the alienation of the young and the bankruptcy of their lives. It's cruel, outrageous,bizarre and provocative portrait around two decadent characters who fornicate, steal and live according theor own behavior codes.
The plot enriches itself due the presence of the incandescnet beauty of Jeanne Moreau who stars a woman back in circulation after ten years of prison.
You may establish without any doubt this film is the French answer to Easy Rider but gifted with a major scope and conceptual complexity, because it trascends the anecdote.
The enviable cast and the masterful direction of this promising director Bertrand Blier who ewentually who would become in a status filmmaker and one of the most gifted dierctors of his generation.
Mature film from start to finish.!

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.

How come no one told me of this movie, huh? I'm shocked that such a phenomenal movie could go under the radar for so long for me...and I'm 42. I mean I know it is a french film but there is just no excuse for this film not to be a household word universally, especially among cinephiles.
That being said. Damn, what surprise and pleasure to stumble onto this. It's anarchic (nothing is owned, everything is "shared"; brutal humanism), hedonistic, spiked with black humor, and underlined with existential positivity. If all is vanity, the fight for rich life beyond rutted conventions is heroic if not divine. As two juvenile, and what AT FIRST seems to be misogynist, men bounce from trouble to trouble, with no regard for the future or the past, it reveals a philosophy that underscores every moment. It's life intensely lived and lived for its own sake. Anything related to death or fear, they bewilderedly mourn and turn away from. I personally find this the most life-affirming film I think I've ever scene. One critic called it a "hymn of life". Forget Spielberg and his life-draining sentimentality.
It's childish and absurd but not fatuous; it's sexist in that gender roles are defined and yet unafraid to go beyond them; it's exploitive and illuminating; it's repulsive and seductive.
Its an affront to a life of passivity!

Too many pro and con reviews miss the main thing: "Les Valseuses" is a wonderfully original FILM. Blier's inspired move is basically to go back to the pure, powerful slapstick comedy of the silent film era, but to liberate it from its hung-over late Victorian sexual morality. The result is an anarchic and very moving slapstick sex comedy that brilliantly imbues the antic, iconic filmmaking of the silent era with a wilder, richer, more radical humanity. Not to be missed.

this is the best french movie i've ever seen...jeanne moreau is a revelation in it..her performance is a tour de force...poignant and touching,,the move is anitestablishment yes..it is wild witty sexy and great entertainment to say the least...it is the best movie these french actors have ever been in....deware sadly committed suicide some time after this gem ..the chemistry between all involved in this movie is incredible too..soundtrack art direction writing ..its all tops......this is one of my favorite movies of all time and i watch it regularly and never tire of it.....i cant recommend it enough..truly a must see..no other movie quite like it..a real gem......not for the faint of heart tho.....

This is the type of dark comedy that could only be made in France, it is so un-PC and graphic that it could never have come out of Hollywood. This film tells the tale of two young men (Gerard Depardieu and Patrick Dewaere) who wander around the French countryside causing trouble, creating havoc, looking for women, committing petty (and not so petty) crimes and generally just causing turmoil wherever they go. This is the film that made Depardieu a star in France in the mid 70s, he and his sidekick Dewaere play off each other wonderfully. Miou-Miou played the role of the vacuous nymphomaniac quite well also, much different than some of her later, more mature roles. One of the other reviewers compared this film to Easy Rider, but I think this is a mischaracterization. This film does not have the philosophic overtones or deeper meaning for a generation that is searching for itself that Easy Rider does. This is an unusual film, but I think it is more like a dark, violent, sexually explicit predecessor of the Jim Carrey film Dumb and Dumber, without the slapstick and body-function humor. Maybe this film explores the `angst' of the French youth of the 70's, and explores the newfound social freedom of the French youth at several levels. The film also takes several violent and completely unexpected turns (ala Pulp Fiction). I found some of the scenes to be absolutely hilarious. Bottom line is that this is an unusual (and unusually graphic) film, the subject matter may be offputting to some. If you are looking for an edgy, dark comedy, you may find this interesting.

Patrick Dweare and Gerard Depardieu are so good together in this movie.a lot of energy from the pair and also some good laughs,the dubbing is ok but i think the movie is better in french speaking.it's a must see if you like french movie.

Crude overgrown juvenile delinquents commit petty crimes, terrorize and share women. It's funny, earthy and is an examination of young alienated youth.

Considering the fact that this DVD might be severely cut, this movie is quite frankly very englightening. It is basically a road movie, but actually a metaphor for free love. 2 young men, on a journey through france, commiting hit-and-run crimes (mostly just stealing cars) and having sex with women of all ages. That's the impression what you could get from it.
But below the surface this is a very thoughful, well-told film of typical french style.

Though I can appreciate the central performances of Miou Miou, Patrick Dewaere ( as Pierrot) and Gerard Depardieu ( as Jean-Claude) it is not until the legendary Jeanne Moreau shows up as a just released, wary jailbird with a secret, Jeanne Pirolle that I realize what my problem is with Bertrand Blier's "Going Places": it lacks humanity, it lacks a heart, it is cold, beautifully made and directed but icy and Moreau's short time onscreen radiates such warmth and humanity that it thaws this film for the short time that she is around.
Pierrot and Jean-Claude are amoral petty thieves, part-time lovers and full time jerks out for a good time: willing and eager to victimize anyone who deigns to get near them...for example Miou Miou as a depressed, almost catatonic beautician, Marie-Ange, who exists in Blier's and by extension Pierrot and Jean-Claude's world to taunt, beat and basically rape.
Blier's, who would direct the anarchic, witty and charming "Get Out Your Handkerchiefs" just four years later with Depardieu and Dewaere, "Going Places" amazes on the one hand in it's mean spiritedness and almost total lack of respect for humanity and on the other hand for its brilliant performances and knife-sharp precise film-making. And as such, "Going Places" is like a big, beautiful Chocolate Labrador puppy that wags its tail when you approach but snarls and bites you when you get close.