Les dragueurs (1959)
(The Chasers/The Young Have No Morals)
Country: FR
Technical: bw 78m
Director: Jean-Pierre Mocky
Cast: Jacques Charrier, Charles Aznavour, Dany Robin, Dany Carrel, Anouk Aimée, Belinda Lee, Margit Saad, Nicole Berger
Synopsis:
A shy young man tags along with an experienced womaniser one Saturday night in Paris. One is ready to settle down with the first girl who will have him, the other seeks his ideal but doesn't mind having fun along the way. Over the course of their odyssey, they meet all sorts of potential partners, but are either sent packing or blow it.
Review:
Mocky's first film as director (one of so many at the time) is a gem; if it had been made by Truffaut it would be a minor classic. Technically superior to many New Wave films at the time, it nevertheless has some of that blend of spontaneity and frankness, as well as a desire to hold up a mirror to society, that characterised much of the movement. Yes, one might argue that the streets of Paris after dark are uncommonly well stocked with nubile females, but in so redeploying reality Mocky offers our two 'apprentis', and ourselves, a glimpse of French society of the time: from bobby-soxer to Swedish sex tourist, from frustrated wife to vulnerable beauty, exclusively white and financially independent, they are unquestionably as emblematic of how the city saw itself back then as the Rome of Fellini's La Dolce Vita. Charrier's Freddy is both a heartless 'tombeur de dames' and hopeless romantic, using his vain search for Miss Right to justify his callous serialism; Aznavour (wonderfully prescient of his Charlie in Tirez sur le pianiste) is the eager to please pragmatist. As Freddy drives impassively past a row of prostitutes in the closing moments, and Joseph takes his nurse home, Mocky causes us to reflect on the personal ethics underlying the casual decisions that determine our lives.
(The Chasers/The Young Have No Morals)
Country: FR
Technical: bw 78m
Director: Jean-Pierre Mocky
Cast: Jacques Charrier, Charles Aznavour, Dany Robin, Dany Carrel, Anouk Aimée, Belinda Lee, Margit Saad, Nicole Berger
Synopsis:
A shy young man tags along with an experienced womaniser one Saturday night in Paris. One is ready to settle down with the first girl who will have him, the other seeks his ideal but doesn't mind having fun along the way. Over the course of their odyssey, they meet all sorts of potential partners, but are either sent packing or blow it.
Review:
Mocky's first film as director (one of so many at the time) is a gem; if it had been made by Truffaut it would be a minor classic. Technically superior to many New Wave films at the time, it nevertheless has some of that blend of spontaneity and frankness, as well as a desire to hold up a mirror to society, that characterised much of the movement. Yes, one might argue that the streets of Paris after dark are uncommonly well stocked with nubile females, but in so redeploying reality Mocky offers our two 'apprentis', and ourselves, a glimpse of French society of the time: from bobby-soxer to Swedish sex tourist, from frustrated wife to vulnerable beauty, exclusively white and financially independent, they are unquestionably as emblematic of how the city saw itself back then as the Rome of Fellini's La Dolce Vita. Charrier's Freddy is both a heartless 'tombeur de dames' and hopeless romantic, using his vain search for Miss Right to justify his callous serialism; Aznavour (wonderfully prescient of his Charlie in Tirez sur le pianiste) is the eager to please pragmatist. As Freddy drives impassively past a row of prostitutes in the closing moments, and Joseph takes his nurse home, Mocky causes us to reflect on the personal ethics underlying the casual decisions that determine our lives.
(The Chasers/The Young Have No Morals)
Country: FR
Technical: bw 78m
Director: Jean-Pierre Mocky
Cast: Jacques Charrier, Charles Aznavour, Dany Robin, Dany Carrel, Anouk Aimée, Belinda Lee, Margit Saad, Nicole Berger
Synopsis:
A shy young man tags along with an experienced womaniser one Saturday night in Paris. One is ready to settle down with the first girl who will have him, the other seeks his ideal but doesn't mind having fun along the way. Over the course of their odyssey, they meet all sorts of potential partners, but are either sent packing or blow it.
Review:
Mocky's first film as director (one of so many at the time) is a gem; if it had been made by Truffaut it would be a minor classic. Technically superior to many New Wave films at the time, it nevertheless has some of that blend of spontaneity and frankness, as well as a desire to hold up a mirror to society, that characterised much of the movement. Yes, one might argue that the streets of Paris after dark are uncommonly well stocked with nubile females, but in so redeploying reality Mocky offers our two 'apprentis', and ourselves, a glimpse of French society of the time: from bobby-soxer to Swedish sex tourist, from frustrated wife to vulnerable beauty, exclusively white and financially independent, they are unquestionably as emblematic of how the city saw itself back then as the Rome of Fellini's La Dolce Vita. Charrier's Freddy is both a heartless 'tombeur de dames' and hopeless romantic, using his vain search for Miss Right to justify his callous serialism; Aznavour (wonderfully prescient of his Charlie in Tirez sur le pianiste) is the eager to please pragmatist. As Freddy drives impassively past a row of prostitutes in the closing moments, and Joseph takes his nurse home, Mocky causes us to reflect on the personal ethics underlying the casual decisions that determine our lives.