Le fils de Gascogne

Writer-director Pascal Aubier pays homage to French cinema (especially the Nouvelle Vague era) and some of its icons in this featherweight comedy that's loaded with brief (in some cases, too brief) appearances by famous French actors and directors. It's a slight but amusing film. The two leads, Grégoire Colin and Dinara Drukarova, have a lot of charm, but some of the supporting characters, Jean-Claude Dreyfus in particular, overact. The single most memorable scene has Drukarova explaining, in a few sentences, life in the former Soviet Union: "In the USSR, nobody works. Nobody works, but the production is huge. The production is huge, but there is nothing in the stores. There is nothing in the stores, but there is everything on the table. There is everything on the table, but nobody is happy. Nobody is happy, but everybody is a Communist". **1/2 out of 4.

The crowd of French stars and directors scattered through this movie makes it that much more fun for those who know them, but the movie goes beyond in jokes and star-spotting. A tour manager hired to shepherd a Georgian male singing group falls slowly and sweetly in love with their accompanying young Russian translator, a fanatic film fan. In a restaurant the men spontaneously sing a beautiful song and another customer joins in. Turns out he's a former (?) film actor. Looking at the guide, he says "Gascogne's son". Gascogne, now dead, turns out to be a nearly mythical figure from the 60s who knew everyone and did everything. The guide has never known his father and is sensitive and angry about it: he both wants and doesn't want to believe. Through this actor he meets another, and through him a whole society of film people who instantly open their doors to the "son of Gascogne." The Russian girl is more entranced with the stars than the boy, but both retain an innocence that flowers amid the strange and sometimes dangerous film world crossed with the musical tour. A chase after Gascogne's long lost final film (perhaps hidden in the boy's attic?) gives the movie a nice little thread of plot, tied to the old actor (now a chauffeur) trying with some charm to turn the lost film into cash. The mystery of Gascogne, as father and film maker, and the travails of the would-be lovers thrust into a glamorous, fast-traveling society, provide a dual focus, mixing memory and desire with odd and intriguing story, characters and atmosphere. Nostalgic, charming and fun.

The question here is why this film has taken so long to find an audience. Produced in 1995 and lightly reviewed in America, it is

only now available in video stores.

This movie works wonderfully on two levels: a whimsical caper and love story built around an attempt to pass off a young travel guide as the illegitimate son of a fictional New Wave director; and a feast of cameos and in-jokes involving figures from French cinema in the 60Õs and 70Õs.

Comedic elements at play include a touring Georgian singing group, their young Russian escort Dinara trying to understand French idioms by questioning the tour guide, and her love interest, Harvey (ÒWhat is Ônot my thing?Ó), the unscrupulous chauffeur who attempts to pass off Harvey as the illegitimate offspring of the dead director and the search for a copy of his last unseen film.

Each introduction of Harvey to various French film legends who play themselves elicits reminiscences of Gascogne by those who worked with or under him. (ÒYou know the 1960Õs? Well he invented them.Ó ) Stephane Audran is particularly delicious portraying a caricature of herself and you donÕt have to be a French cinema buff to appreciate the scene where Harvey is introduced to director Claude Chabrol dining at home alone.

New Wave references and film clips abound including a chase sequence inter-cut with shots from GodardÕs ÒBreathless.Ó There

is even a bonus bit of philosophy thrown in when Harvey listens to the charming Dinara talk about the fall of communism and the changes in Russia and opines, ÒFreedom is managing your soul without too much soul searching.Ó The soul of this film is simply fun and entertaining.

A sweet, whimsical, slightly absurd French comedy.

A young tour guide is spotted as the unknown son of a famous dead New Wave film maker.

While he's skeptical at first, he never did know his own father, so who knows?

And suddenly a world of artists, actresses, etc. open up to him, as he 'finds' himself in what might be a complete fiction.

This garnered critical reaction all over the spectrum, though mostly positive, some raving.

I'll go with funny and clever, but I'm not sure I buy it as the deep work of art that some see. Still, I'd be happy to re-visit.