Certi piccolissimi peccati

Yves Robert's best works are those which deal with children :"la guerre des boutons" "la Gloire de mon Père" and its follow-up "le château de ma mère"."Un éléphant" is not as good as the three movies I mention above.But what connects it to his three wonderful films is that its four heroes have not really grown up.Claude Brasseur 's way of pitting the olives is a schoolboy 's joke!We can also credit Robert for introducing a gay character (Brasseur) while avoiding the usual clichés.Brasseur portrays a man like all the other ones.We'd never guess he is gay if we were not told it so.On the other hand,the female parts are not very interesting:Daniele Delorme -who was Robert's wife and her co-producer-was better in the fifties when she was directed by Duvivier and the attractive Duperrey is nothing but a mirage .And Guy Bedos 's mother is a calamity ,for Marthe Villalonga is ham-acting flesh on the bone.

The movie was so successful that there was a sequel ("Nous irons tous au Paradis' ) and an American remake ("the woman in red")

Every actor needs a breakthrough role and Jean Rochefort's finally came courtesy of director Yves Robert in this slight but utterly delightful piece. The character of Etienne Dorsay affords the marvellous Monsieur Rochefort the opportunity to employ his innate quirkiness, eccentricity, Gallic charm and comedic timing to the fullest.

This is essentially a 'buddy' movie featuring a marriage break-up, a domineering mother and one of the buddies coming out of the closet but the scenes that work best are those involving Etienne, his wife, played by the lovely and talented Daniele Delorme, the object of his desire Anny Duperey who possesses that 'je ne sais quoi' in spades and Martine Sarcey as a libidinous colleague who resents being repeatedly stood up. Especially funny are Etienne's antics on horseback. Rochefort was in fact a keen equestrian and horse breeder who developed a passion for these noble creatures whilst filming 'Cartouche'.

Dialogue is by Jean-Loup Dapadie who contributed to so many of Claude Sautet's films, including the archetypal 'buddy' movie 'Vincent, Francois, Paul et les autres'.

The sequel alas worked less well but that is customarily the case with sequels and eight years were to elapse before the obligatory Hollywood makeover. Whether the result was worth the wait is of course down to the individual viewer.

The movie was only funny for the first 30 mins with the mixed up. Way too long and predictable, only about 10 mins worth of story stretched into almost 2 hours.

Etienne(Jean Rochefort)is a happily married man and a good father. His friends all have secret affairs and/or cheat on their wives. One morning, Etienne sees a woman in red passing by his car. He falls in love with her and tries everything to get to know her better. Of course, this must be kept a secret to his wife.

Whereas the story may not be very original, this film is extremely charming and amiable nonetheless. It has a great supporting cast(Brasseur is a stand-out), very funny moments and many real-life characters. Too bad this charming little film was later remade as THE WOMAN IN RED(with Gene Wilder and Kelly LeBrock). But Hollywood seems to have this "urge" to make their own version of each film with a bit of success outside the States. Anyway, if you have to choose between the original and the remake, choose UN ÉLEPHANT...(or PARDON MON AFFAIRE as it is sometimes called). 7/10

This Yves Robert's film gave Gene Wilder the idea for a US remake ("The Woman in red"). But the latter doesn't have neither the freshness nor the simplicity of the French version.

As a European, I feel myself better at ease with the Robert's movie because it is nearer to my culture -and the fact that actors and action are set in Paris make easier for me to understand the way characters think...

It's doubtless a French comedy, with a perfect actor for this kind of work -Jean Rochefort, who portrays a typical French "bourgeois", awkward, shy and proud of his social position at the same time. A frustrated male of Latin culture...!

Etienne (Rochefort) falls in love with a sexy woman he meets in his bureau. This woman is then chosen for an advertisement... He will do everything for conquering her, unless telling it his wife. The film is a joke about men erotically fantasies.

The film is witty, charming and well written. Whereas Italian comedies play mostly with satire, strange comical faces and misunderstandings, French comedies are less caricature, they present "clownesques" situations in (appearently) more serious environments. Two excellent comical approaches! They're so different from American comical movies -in American comedies there's more mess, you laugh because situations are so incredible and full of contradictions.

This film is worth to see, Jean Rochefort is funny even if he seems serious. When I saw the Gene Wilder movie I didn't enjoy so much -Wilder is an excellent actor, but his "Woman in red" had something quite artificial.. It was not as spontaneous like the original one. Wilder is better with his extravaganzas, with slapstick elements...