Solo

Solo is curiously contemporary in its theme. The film tracks down young left-wing militants who carry out collective attacks against the financial bourgeoisie, literally massacring a dozen people. The film was shot shortly after 1968, but the theme is still very much alive. They are hunted down by the police, and by Jean-Pierre Mocky himself, perfect in character and with a lot of charisma (he had offered the role to Jean-Paul Belmondo and Alain Delon, who turned it down, so he did it himself), who is the brother of one of them, but he is a jewel thief of rich people, so rather than killing, he steals.

Jean-Pierre Mocky builds a story in which he finds himself helping his younger brother, who is one of these militants. The film contains some brilliant, modern-sounding lines of dialogue, notably in the scenes between Jean-Pierre Mocky and Anne Deleuze, the only female militant in the terrorist group.

As usual, Mocky constructs a story in which everything moves very fast, with no unnecessary shots, no useless seconds and multiple chases intertwined: Jean-Pierre Mocky tries to find his brother before the police do, Anne Deleuze tries to warn the group who are trying to regroup, while the police advance and close in on them. All this is perfectly interwoven by screenwriters Jean-Pierre Mocky and Alain Moury.

A curious little film that I was drawn to because I had seen the director's later and unique Litan (1982) and then discovered that the little celebrated Jean-Pierre Mocky has made over 70 films. This, one of his earliest films, is clearly low budget and he stars as well as directs. There are marvellous moments when his eye for the unusual and stylish are to the fore but stretches where for lack of resources or whatever things are more mundane. Inspired by the Paris 1968 events this opens with an armed attack upon an orgy of young girls and rich old men and the 'terrorists' are seen as the good guys. Interesting that on the subtitles the term 'terrorists' is used because my clear recollection is that at the time such opponents of the status quo were referred to as 'revolutionists'. The tale is well enough told and our interest held throughout but I feel that it is simply that some sequences, especially the final one, are so good that I regret the whole could not have been similarly inspired. The difficult mix of sex and politics is intelligently dealt with and Mocky should be applauded for that at least, as well as the flashes of stylish vision.

Jewel-thief and professional violinist Jean-Pierre Mocky (Vincent) realizes that his younger brother Denis Le Guillou (Virgile) is behind a series of terrorist attacks in France. Guillou is part of a small cell that are ruthlessly dedicated to their politically misguided cause and Mocky wants to set things straight with baby bro. Can he get to him in time or will the police beat him to it?

This film follows Mocky's journey – he doesn't support the revolutionary cause but he certainly comes across a couple of the terrorist comrades. He even has a nickname for one of them who he keeps calling "Idiot" to his face. So, we have an element of comedy that is nicely done whenever Mocky has to interact with these people. There is also a great orgy scene towards the end with a rather amusing spanky spanky scene as one of the wealthy participants pulls his trousers down and asks a lady to spank out some dictation on him. All this is watched by Mocky and we have to agree with his sentiments as he smiles through this occasion. Ha ha. There is one other orgy scene at the beginning of the film which is a good way to start the film with a shocking impact. Be clear that this is not a porno, though. It's just the 1970s so that means you get some boob scenes.

As for being a jewel thief, the best song about that is by Prefab Sprout and it's called "The Best Jewel Thief in the World" from 2013. Maybe Mocky had heard it and it inspired him onto his career.

Jean-Pierre Mocky is an acquired taste .I must confess I'm not part of his fan base but when he comes up with aces ,works such as "l'Albatros" "Le Temoin" "Agent Trouble" or "Noir Comme Le Souvenir" I've got to made amends.Mocky has made so many movies -after starring in Franju's harrowing masterpiece " La Tete Contre Les Murs" - there's inevitably a lot of half-baked flicks nay rubbish.Who knows that his critically-acclaimed "Le Miraculé " is actually a ripoff of George Langelaan's short story "the miracle" without giving the writer any credits-Langelaan wrote the famous "the fly" -?Who knows that Fredric Brown is completely butchered in his celebrated "L'Ibis Rouge" ?

Mocky is very smart ,smarter than you'll ever think he is."Solo" must be considered one of his very best.One of the first movies dealing with the events of May 68 -which were reportedly predicted by Godard's stodgy "La Chinoise" - ,Mocky shows much less naive and less "revolutionary" than his peers.

The title may have two meanings: the hero is a musician who leaves his orchestra (thus going "solo" ) and gets involved in acts of terrorism against his will;and although one of the terrorists is his brother ,they brush against one another more than they really meet.

Some students want to get rid of the bourgeois values ;first step is slaughtering all these mean bourgeois orgy lovers .A couple of dumb detectives (about as dumb as the Thompson bros (Dupondt)) are hot on their heels.While the youngsters are ranting about that hypocrite society ,the horrible life that lays in store for all of us ,Vincent wants to make the best of his life ,while keeping his distance from the well-meaning society he hates as much as his brother does.Vincent and brother Virgile are Antoine and Jacques Thibault in the late sixties . And Anne Deleuze would be Jacques's Jenny -most amazing thing ,Deleuze actually played the part of Jenny in 1972!

Although full of good lines ,of black humor ,"Solo" is a rather desperate work which leaves no hope to the viewer.As the three passengers leave the train ,dead or (still) alive,the locomotive pulls it carrying a lot of people whose most fervent wish might be that things remain what they are and that they cease to bother them with their revolutions.