La vita è un lungo fiume tranquillo

True, this is not the best movie ever made. It is, however, extremely funny. One cannot truly realize why this is such a ridiculous movie until they know the the french culture. It is not a study in the class differences, it is to exaggerate the extreme opposite ends of the spectrum. The rich family is so stable it is almost hokey, and the poor family is so dysfunctional that they are almost stable. All of the comments about life are only to exaggerate the situation. I particularly love the scene in the church with the musical, it just goes to show how silly things can be. I don't watch this movie over and over for the plot, I watch it because every time you see it you notice something now that is characteristically French. Personally, I think it is great.

At last, this little gem of a film is available on DVD (only in French, no subtitles, but it is, in any case, a difficult film to enjoy other than in French), together with 2 hours of additional interviews.

This film is a wicked little satire on the differences (and, below the surface, the similarities) between the bourgeois LeQuesnoy family and the wastrel Groseille family. The artifice used is the switching of two children at birth by the unhappy mistress of the gynaecologist.

For many of the actors and the director, this was their first film, providing a stepping stone for greater things. But "La Vie est un Long Fleuve Tranquille" should not be missed. Many of its little jokes became catchphrases in the France of the eighties and early nineties, so cruelly apt were they.

And do not miss Etienne Chatiliez's later films, particularly "Tatie Danielle" et "Le Bonheur est dans le Pre".

You might not enjoy this film - some people clearly haven't. But I recommend you make the effort to decide for yourself. It will be worth it.

This film is perhaps my favorite French comic film. I have seen it over and over through the years, perhaps 50 times. Having lived in France, I relish it's send-up of two stereotypical French families and their attitudes and interactions with each other as well as with institutions: the church, schools, the medical profession, foreigners among them, etc. As I see it over and over, it is my delight to concentrate on one character or another as they delineate a stereotypical trait. The subtleties are hilarious, yet I can imagine those who have never lived among the French might be bewildered, even turned off.

I was quite surprised that many commenters didn't appreciate this film at all. I think you have to understand class differences in French society and the film's kind of satire in order to be able to enjoy the film. I personally loved it though I would have expected a real 'catastrophe' at the end. But I nevertheless liked the story and the characters, especially this very ridiculous, 'perfect' bourgeois family. I loved the scene where the father looks at the crying, completely desperate mother and the only thing that comes to his mind is to tell her: "Comme vous êtes belle ce soir!" (How beautiful you are this evening!)

Probably Americans are not so familiar with this kind of black, but also at times subtle humor and this is why the reactions were so bad.

Etienne Chatiliez is a director possessing a deft hand for comedy both cruel and subtle: think "Tatie Danielle" for the former and "Le bonheur est dans le pre" for a bit of the latter. La vie est un long fleuve tranquille is a hilarious examination of class-based comedy in the late 80s in France, with the time honoured "baby-switching" plot point to kick things off. Great performances allow a very funny film to sparkle on the screen. Highly recommended.