Customer Reviews

Menage [VHS]

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

 

 

MENAGE or "Tenue De Soiree", as it is called in French is a subtle comedy which will not leave the viewer untouched. A burgler (Depardieu) befriends a spatting couple at a bal, and proceeds to court the husband (Michel Blanc, of "Monsieur Hire") into an intense intimate relationship. What follows is the threesome's adventures through Parisian nights and a variety of situations, one more absurd than the next. The original version is exquisitely written, and the dialogues border on poetry. All the actors demonstrate their talents opposite each other and form an exceptional cast. This film would most likely be listed under "comedies" but it's range encompasses many genres. A definite must see for any fan of Depardieu who is flawless in this film.

The original title of this film is "Tenue de soiree". A very ironic title if you consider the story : two [unsuccessful folks] meet smart guy (Gerard Depardieu) with money and connections. Only problem : the money has dubious origins and the connections are a little too connected to the crime world. Let's not even talk about the sexual depravity of Mr. Smart who offers his new friends the brilliant career of prostitution.
The film is a must not only because of the weird and hilarious story but also for the great lines (a condition of success in French theaters). Who will forget the famous comment : "When I see your gloomy face, I feel like ordering a coffin " ?
This film has become a classic in France. It displays the same black humor as "Le pere Noel est une ordure" (you don't want me to translate this and you don't want to know what happens to Santa Claus).
If you want to discover French cinema, you better get used to Bernard Blier's destructive humor, who spares nobody.

Great acting, a very unusual story and a wonderful direction make this one of the most outstanding (and cult) comedies coming out from France in recent years. Depardieu, Miou Miou and Blanc are simply terrific in this incredibly outragious "menage a trois". Besides, the music - by Serge Gainsbourg (who else could make the music for such a movie?) - is WONDERFUL. Kind of cult flick, it will be greatly enjoyed by those keen on sexually daring subjects. Warning: I would recommend this film to a very open-minded audience since it might hurt some moral standards.

Infatuated by his ever-adolescent naughty looks, I hailed Gerard as the actor when I saw him in Tenue de soiree. The increasing arousal of the plot interweaves with his audaucious fury ending up in a typically European menage a trois. We are all flesh and blood, after all!

Considering the stars of this movie, I expected more. I don't think the problem was with the acting, rather the problem was the script. The whole story was unbelievable and the ending especially so, although seeing Gerard Depardieu and Michel Blanc in drag was mildly amusing. If you want to see this movie, rent it. Don't buy it unless it's really cheap.

On commence... et on finit, par ętre femme...

Besides all else that this film might be about, it is also about mutability... the fact that our identities may not... at all, be as fixed as we might safely think. That... depending on the circumstances, and the particular people we meet... and our willingness to not judge, and to be open to things outside our own experiences, that even the most seemingly black-and-white self-definitions might (then) be allowed to blur and metamorphosize into something quite other than as we were when starting-out. Self-realization with the absence of fear... a fear shaped by societal convention. But... because this film explores mutability of the most profoundly personal type, it may be safer just to laugh at its opera-buffa qualities than to realize that, at its core, it dares to shake us by our ankles to acknowledge that we're never as « safe » as we might believe. Perhaps this is the reason some might find this film offensive, and why, also, societal-variance is so very frequently met with such ridicule, abuse and hatred... it's easier to hate than to believe that truths we hold as most immutable, under those right circumstances, are as fragile as dust on the wind.