Alexandre, O Felizardo

Yves Robert passed away three years ago and any cine buff remembers him for his towering achievements that are: "la Guerre des Boutons" (1962), an adaptation of Louis Pergaud's famous novel still fresh today as it was forty three years ago, "my Father's Glory" and "my Mother's Castle" (1990), adaptations of Marcel Pagnol's childhood memories. And don't forget a good pack of quality comedies treated with respect and no vulgarity. This flick, "Alexandre le Bienheureux" (1967) largely deserves its place of winner among them.

In 1880, Paul Laforgue wrote and published an essay entitled: "le Droit à la Paresse" (the Right to Laziness) in which he offered a positive definition about this term generally considered as one of the biggest vices in the world. But Laforgue shelved the negative prejudices about it. He suggested to leave work fallow and to devote free time to rest and leisure which enabled a beneficial development for the individual. I suppose Yves Robert did the same for his movie. Without taking itself too seriously, it presents itself as a comical tale in which laziness is praised because thanks to it, happiness and the possibility to enjoy basic pleasures of life prevail. There's no need to worry about the constraints and stress imposed by work and modern society. And in the background, there's this country filmed with love and delicacy which Robert seems to know like the back of his hand.

Seen today, the movie displays a few technical flaws that weren't noticeable in 1967. Certain shots or camera movements are dated and it lets us think that the movie on a technical level hasn't worn well. But it has no importance for it kept an undeniable charm and can be watched with pleasure again. And a few funny moments in Robert's work evoke the devastating humor coming from Tex Avery's cartoons like the orchestra in front of Alexandre's house.

Philippe Noiret in the main role acts the role of Alexandre with an admirable easiness and naturalness. Because of its physical appearance and as he is inseparable from his dog Kaly, he is akin to Obélix with his tiny dog Idéfix. The rest of the cast follows him well and includes Pierre Richard and Jean Carmet.

At the level of the quality in Robert's filmography, "Alexandre le Bienheureux" is just a few notches below Robert's flicks I previously mentioned. It's the kind of movie to full savor after a hard day's work or after a Jean Luc Godard intellectual movie. Given that it is difficult to find in DVD, it deserves to be restored in favor and considering all the favors did by Kaly to his master, Robert's movie perfectly illustrates the famous maxim: "man's best friend is the dog".

I saw this movie 3 times over 30 years ago. It is one of my favorite movies of all time. I have been looking for it on tape or DVD for years. I discovered IMDb today and for the first time was able to find that the movie is at least entered in a database. Can anyone tell me how to get a VHS or DVD of this movie?

One of the things that made this movie so appealing for me is that I am a dog person. Alexander is a lazy man who lives on a farm with his dog, a cute mutt. He sends his dog into town carrying a basket in his mouth to bring home groceries. The dog walks from store to store as the store keepers fill it with groceries. The dog then brings the basket home to Alexander. Alexander never leaves his bed as he stores the food the dog has carried home around the bed. The villagers eventually descend upon Alexander to force him to become a productive citizen - a concept he doesn't value. One of the villagers is an eligible young lady who sees Alexander as a potential husband and, more importantly, a route to a comfortable life. The rest is about the struggle for Alexander and his dog trying to adjust to the woman. The ending is superb.

This is a strangely great film. It is a comedy with many moments of uncontrollable hilarity. But what is special about it is that it haunts you long after you have seen it. The images sit vividly in your mind. The themes are built with great cleverness yet extremely subtly and entertainingly. This is a film of intelligence. It is superficially about the eternal war between men and women. But that is just the familiar context and not the real subject. It is really about small town customs and mores and how being different is a problem. It also has an extremely clever cyclical theme. This film ran continuously in Boston for years. (You can look it up.) It is not to be missed if at all possible. Anyone know how I can get a copy?

A fable, a parable, an examination of the human condition, and a must see for anyone thinking of getting married. Certainly one of the strongest declarations on record of just why we love our dogs. There is always something rumpled about Noiret, a bit of a sad sack who somehow manages to wrest dignity from abuse or meager circumstance. Alexandre isn't his best film, or probably anybody's best film, but who can ignore this simple man who takes to bed, not in anguish over his loss, but in quiet enjoyment of what he has found through loss to the distress of his neighbors? Alexandre is a delicious comment on the benefits of breaking with convention and taking one's own road.

It's now many years after I wrote the review above. I didn't remember having written it, but now that I read it, I know I did. My opinion hasn't changed. I'd gladly give $100 to have a good copy, but it seems to be unavailable. If you're reading this, I've got two more to add, if you can find them: Giuseppe Tornatore's "A Pure Formality" starring Gerard Depardieu and Roman Polanski, simply one of the most mesmerizing movies I've ever seen; and "Le Cadeau" ("The Gift"), of which I can find no trace, about a bank clerk or accountant with a shrewish wife who takes off for Venice with a gift some co-workers gave him--a singularly beautiful prostitute. He comes back a changed man with a restored relationship with his wife. A great movie. Why are these so hard to track down?

I have been searching for this film -- in any format -- for years. I saw it twice in two days in the late sixties at a small museum theater that showed mostly foreign and art films. And although it is, admittedly, a slight film and probably no one's idea of a great cinematic masterpiece, it has more charm than 99 out of 100 Hollywood comedies. It may be that the anarchic feeling of the film dovetailed so well with our own rebelliousness of that era. Maybe it was the dog. I imagine running it on a double bill with Marcel Pagnol's "The Baker's Wife" -- now THAT would be something!

I have scoured the websites and catalogs of lots of distributors looking for some evidence that "Alexandre" is out there somewhere, aspiring to a new life on DVD (or even VHS!), but to no avail. Let's hope this charming gem of a comedy is not lost forever -- THAT would be a tragedy!