Ursule et Grelu

What can one say when confronted with artistic (and commercial) suicide?Issue a warning ,and try to accentuate the positive? Ok ,Annie Girardot is a wonderful actress and it's only natural she tried a movie an act of self-renewal;OK ,Bernard Fresson ,his then partner in life, had already proved that he was more than a supporting actor.Yes , Alain Goraguer's score is sweetly nostalgic.And yes, stuffed tomatoes ,it is a delicious dish.

Director Serge Korber had already cast both actors in his more palatable " les feux de la chandeleur " ,the dubious moral of which could be :'if a woman wants to be happy ,she should not dabble in politics ".Which was odd ,for Girardot was politically committed.

"Ursule et Grelut " is a dreadful hotchpotch in which you'll find, higgledy-piggledy , the wreck of the titanic II , a serial killer, the Salvation army , a bum becoming a finance tycoon, a gay couple, cops,funds embezzlements ,and ultimately meetings with men of high places circa 1973....Funny moments are very few and far between .....and if it makes you yawn your head off, blame it on the "screenwriters" ,director and Michel Cournot ,who registered a desire to make a "crazy " flick ,but gave the audience a stodgy brew.