Tout le monde il est beau, tout le monde il est gentil

(Sorry for the lousy play on words in French as the title of this critic, but I couldn't think of anything better. This is my little homage to the humor of the film.) This movie, with its incredible title, marked Jean Yanne's directorial debut. Jean Yanne was an acclaimed comedian at the beginning of the 70s after his brilliant performances for Claude Chabrol in the diptych "Le boucher" ("The Butcher") and "Que la bête meure" ("The beast must die"). But Jean Yanne was also a TV and a radio man, and in 1971, he began to write with his radio mate Gérard Sire what would become "Tout le monde il est beau...". Jean Yanne's first movie is therefore a (ferocious) satire of a milieu he knew intimately: commercial radio. Don't get the movie wrong : although you may be offended by the numerous and very ironical allusions to (Christian) religion, the real target is the power of media and the excesses of the consumer-society. "Radio is based on hypocrisy", said Jean Yanne. "It only has one goal beneath all the eyewash: to unload deodorant, toothpaste or washing-powder." Yanne as the central character plays a dishonest and highly cynical journalist who turns a small radio station into a sort of "Radio Vatican" with the clear goal to make money and nothing but. He gathered as the supporting cast perhaps the finest cabaret comedians and cinema actors of the time, with Bernard Blier, Ginette Garcin (who sings two hilarious songs), Jacques François, Paul Préboist, Daniel Prévost, les Frères Ennemis... It is only a pity that Yanne couldn't obviously direct himself and let the other actors steal the show! (To have an idea of how good Yanne was as an actor, please check the films he did with Chabrol, Pialat and Godard). It is true that the movie has indeed aged a bit badly (ah, those references to the student revolt of '68, to Biafra and the Vietnam War! Ah, that psychedelic pop art!), but some scenes are still hilarious -- if you are receptive to that kind of humor, that is! If you are very religious, don't even try to watch this. The soundtrack has just been reissued on CD in France and it is a wonder. The music has aged very nicely and there are quite amazing and devastatingly funny numbers. To give you an idea, it is "Woodstock meets the Vatican", no kidding! Then you can treat yourself with Jean Yanne's voice and his very caustic lyrics. A highly recommended CD!

This satire, set in a commercial radio station is in some sense similar to Weird Al Yankovic's UHF. The emphasis is more on satire than comedy though and it tries too hard to be topical. As a result, it has badly aged. When I watched it, I didn't know when it was made but it was instantly clear that it could not have been made after 1973 and not before 1971, and that 1972 was very likely indeed. The problem is that the things it satirises were topical for its time, but many have long since faded to be issues. Still, that makes it an interesting document of its era.

Having said that the film has a few glorious moments of comedy, especially whenever Bernard Blier enters the frame; as ever, an excellent example of dead-pan delivery. The weakest ingredient of the whole piece is Jean Yanne as the leading actor. While Monsieur Yanne does a reasonable job as director, he forgets to direct himself. His attitude "I'm the hero, you are all supposed to love me" gets soon on your nerves, it alienates.

Now (in 2022), this film is exactly fifty years old; It is almost a museum piece, a testimony of a bygone era! Of course, the comments of the other viewers are pertinent: the songs are good, most of the actors are good (& Bernard Blier is excellent), there are hilarious moments and the general atmosphere of the film exsudes the irreverent and carefree seventies. In one scene ("Cene"?) of the movie, some may have missed that it is literally a 'cut and paste' of Leonardo Da Vinci's very famous painting "The last supper"...

But there is a serious aspect to all this. Jean Yanne (in spite of his uncouthness, which may be repulsive to some) and Gérard Sire (his dialogue-writing partner for this film, who in 'real life' was an outstanding radio host) were two authentic artists, and as such were able to capture the deep-running mood of the general French public of their days. This mood (which they contributed to uncover long before it became widespread) was "derision".

Derision is not solely cynicism. In its French variety, it is a complex turn of mind in which nothing is important, no authority is respectable, no act has consequences; and at the same time I (the derisive individual) know all the answers, can pass all judgments, and can dismiss any and all opposing views without need for refutation.

There has been in France - between the '70s and the '90s, and even up to the '00s decade - a spirit of derision which has pervaded society and contributed to a gradual decrease in the usefulness and credibility of the political debate. The media which has embodied this "spirit of derision" for thirty years and more has been the TV channel "Canal plus", launched in 1984.

"Tout le monde il est beau, tout le monde il est gentil" is thus a kind of signpost for times that have not changed for the better. ___ .