Des garçons et des filles

A classic 60's movie shot just before the student revolution of may 1968... the movie, being about a few young men and women that choose to live together in a big house, is unfortunately quite empty in spite of good actors (Ludmila Mikael, Nicole Garcia and Roger van Hool amongst the others). The story is of course old-fashioned but it's maybe the best point of the movie, a look at how young boys and girls were living before the big cultural, sexual and social changes of late 60's. For a Trivia, you can see famous french musician Jean Michel Jarre (Oxygene - 1976) performing with his first rock band "the dustbins" in the party scene.

During his whole career,Etienne Périer drifted between adventure ("le pont vers le soleil" " commando pour un homme seul " " rouge sang" ) and retreat ("un meurtre est un meurtre" "la main à couper" ).

"Des garçons et des files apparently belongs to the former group: a group of young boys and girls who decide to live together in the same house in a commune ; unlike in the seventies ,when "living in commune " meant return to nature , hippies in the country , these are urban youngsters ; and it's totally devoid of politics , it was a year before May 68 ,but one does not feel it at all : they are not rebels, free love or abortion are not talked about, one of them seems elated because he is fit for the military service ;the dramatic events come at the most awkward moment and their life is a routine one ; they do not belong to the working class and the society is a fait accompli .The subject was perhaps new,but it's all form and no content.

The story is devoid of interest ,one does not know why one should care for these people ; but the cast is interesting :

Marc Porel whose parents and grandmother were actors was one of the most promising actors of the early seventies, but his career was ruined by the appearance of a new generation (Depardieu ,Dewaere) and he untimely died from an overdose .

Nicole Garcia ,on the other hand ,became an important actress ,still popular today ,and a talented director ("l'adversaire " is one of my favorite French movies of the twenty-first century).

The cast and credits try another tack ,but even that was used by Sacha Guitry long before.