Édouard et Caroline

My god,I love this film!Among Jacques Becker's small filmography (13 movies in all),this is perhaps the most overlooked one.The plot is very thin,and the whole story takes place in two apartments ,Edouard and Caroline's modest home,and her uncle's luxurious dwelling.

"Edouard Et Caroline" belongs to Becker's "two hearts are better than one" trilogy which includes " Antoine Et Antoinette" (1947) and "Rue De L'Estrapade"(1953).These works are optimistic ,warm and extremely well acted.

Edouard (Daniel Gelin) is a very talented piano player who leads a bohemian life ,while dreaming of fame and glory.His wife Caroline comes from a wealthier family and her snobbish uncle is always putting her husband down.

The uncle and his son Alain treat Edouard condescendingly :they invite the couple to their society party ,but mainly to humiliate the musician.Under the pretext of helping him to meet important people ,they want him to play the role of an entertainer .These chic guests are would be connoisseurs but they are actually not a more interesting audience than the concierge and her nephew Ernest.See how they dance to the amateur musician's simplistic tune .The only man who is not a snob at the party is an American who laughs at the uncle's English (he studied in Oxford though!) Anne Vernon and Daniel Gelin shine in this witty comedy and they get great support from Jean Galland,the irresistible Betty Stockfeld and Jacques François as the posh cousin who's got so many neckties and so many suits he finds it hard to choose.

The two leads would team up again in "Rue De L'Estrapade" ,but not as husband and wife that time.

I love this movie!

This is a wonderful, joyful and smart movie. Very well acted. The chemistry between Edouard and Caroline is astonishing, and she's so pretty and desirable. I was pleasantly surprised with the sexiness of it all : the tension of desire is almost palpable during the whole movie, and not only between the protagonists. To watch this movie was a beautiful experience. Pure cinematic art.

This lovely comedy deserves lots more reviews!

The plot is utterly simple: young married couple in a little apartment without much money quarrel furiously over an evening party in the ornate apartment of her rich, pretentious and foolish uncle but by dawn have made up. What counts is the way it's related and acted,

As Édouard, Daniel Gélin conveys the insecurities of a young man with his way to make in both the world and with his new wife. As Caroline, Anne Vernon was completely winning, beautiful and tempestuous yet revealing underneath her youth and vulnerability. Though her family are comically awful, some of their guests are interesting, in particular Élina Labourdette as the theatrical Florence Borch and William Tubbs as her stolid good-hearted husband Spencer.

Shot on just two sets, the black-and-white photography is brilliant. The mobile camera catches what is going on between the couple, giving you their thoughts and emotions. At times it even hides behind a mirror to catch characters revealing themselves in it. The script helps, saying the things that quarreling couples do without sounding trite and saying the things people at parties do in all their triteness. Full of music, classical and Latin, plus lovely evening dresses by Carven for the women.

If you are not entranced, you are probably lacking something.

Most of the reviews seem to consider this movie as a comedy. had it been called RomCom, probably it would have been somewhat OK (married couple can have their romance, without looking outwards) .

While watching it, i found there is a very thin line between comedy and satire, and when I follow the line, it is a satire, not a comedy. The satires usually as too biting, and thereby heavy on the senses. But in this case, the director has skillfully garbed the satire, and the movie is as lighthearted as a comedy, but still it isn't one. And of course, a happy ending is one that I usually prefer, and by that count, this is one of the few (the total count itself is few) of Becker movies, which I would vote for. That is without the technical superiority (movies like Falbalas, Casque d'Or etc were far better character study, but too intense for me).

The story, as mentioned, isn't much, almost non existent. It is the characters that fill the plot, give it the body.

We have a very young couple, poor but talented husband, and the loving but suffering wife, almost like 'Versprich Mir Nichts', though here the wife doesn't take things literally in her hands, and also unlike the Versprich Mir Nichts, there is physical confrontation (usually thorough missiles, sometimes aimed at each other, most of the time at ground), but there is no missing, that along with this fire, the other fire too burns equally bright.

The matter is made more complex through the difference in the strata they belonged to. The wife was from the crème de la crème whereas the husband was bohemian from bourgeois family. Naturally both the sides had declared that the union was doomed to fail.

The different characters that encompass, are the vain and almost narcissist wife's cousin, who still covets her, and is encouraged by the thought of the predicted failure of the marriage, and would work to bring expedited demise. The cousin's father naturally would encourage it, though not too actively, and then his circle of the peacocks. Of these there were was at least one, who had a strong head on his shoulders, probably a natural justice, since his wife was the other end of the spectrum. All other fell between these two. This is the mix of the characters, what made the movie an enjoyable one, and also as it moved quite lightly in the difficult terrain.