La vie est un long fleuve tranquille

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.

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.

"Life is a Long Quiet River"… what a magnificently poetic title, it doesn't give much hints about the story except the essential: it's about life, what happens, what is under our control, and the bad we take with the good. That a comedy would inspire such profound thoughts says a lot about the 80's: comedies were more mature and clever, eager to tell a good story with a few laughs rather than a laugh-riot that falls flat.

Etienne Chatillez, who showed his talent as a director-writer of sociologically-themed movies, signed his first little masterpiece about family and clash of classes. "Life is a Long Quiet River" is about two families that couldn't have been more opposite: the Duquesnois and the Groseilles. There's a reality about large families: you've got to be either very rich or very poor to afford many children, and that's exactly the demographic categories the two families fit in. The Duquesnois are the typical Catholic bourgeois with very straitlaced parents, sending their children to private school where they can be taught catechism and good manners. The Groseilles exemplify the 'Beaufs' archetypes, people of modest social upbringing, loudmouth, vulgar, crass, greedy, and no, they don't have a good heart, the film is above these patronizing clichés.

It is true that the Groseilles seem more fun but the Duquesnois aren't ridiculed and that's the first hint of the film's intelligence: it doesn't need to make fun of the characters, they behave naturally and the comedic situations naturally emerge from the story. One of the most memorable moments is the iconic "Jesus, come back" song that has nothing ridiculous about it, but because it's set within the context of a comedy and because the priest, played by Patrick Bouchitey, is so passionately into the music, the scene has become a staple of French comedy, proof that it's all about a good timing. And timing is what the main plot is about, a Doctor dismisses his mistress (also his nurse) during his wife's funeral, indifferent to her cleavage delicately hidden behind black lace.

So she takes her revenge and reveals the truth behind that fateful Christmas night twelve years before, where he rejected her one time too many and she switched the two Duquesnois and Groseille newborns. As the doctor said, they wouldn't start life with the same chances and I wonder if Chatillez wasn't inspired by that scene in "Once Upon a Time in America" where the gangsters switch babies and James Woods' character says something like "We're better than fate. Some we give the good life, others we give it up the ass." That nurse indeed played a dirty trick and the reaction of the doctor (Daniel Gelin) is a classic, he repeats the bitch word several times and it's so cruel we never feel the word is repeated enough, it is realistic yet funny.

And now, let's make a pause, here you have the premise; two babies switched at birth, how are you going to work on that? Any lesser comedy would have gone to the obvious "Trading Places" format, and the film would have gone for cheap gags based on lousy comedy of contrasts between the rich and the poor people, overused at the expense of realism and common sense. But Chatillez thinks realistically and doesn't go for the obvious to make the audience laugh, he cares for his characters a little more and that's the respect a director owes his audience. So he asks the simple question: what would a poor family do if they knew their boy was connected to a rich one? And why would a girl raised in wealth and comfort be transferred to a lesser standard of life? The film reveals its genius in one of its most famous shots.

Momo Groseille, who should have been Maurice Duquesnois has just been told the truth, he's played by a young Benoit Magimel and he's obviously startled by the news, he looks at his family staring at him like the new outsider but then he recovers from the surprise and in the most deadpan and natural way, says that they can make money out of it. And as to make up for the 'loss' of Momo, the Duquesnois give money to the Groseilles, the father (André Wilms) is no fool, he knows what the Groseilles are into but he does it for Momo's good and this is the best thing about the film, it has a sweetness of its own. And it paints a very touching family portrait of the two families, and perhaps the most touching character is Marielle Duquesnois, the mother, played by Hélène Vincent.

I don't think I have enough kind words for her but she's a sweet and responsible mother who cares for her children, telling them that Momo was adopted not to upset Bernadette, who is the Groseilles' daughter. The movie doesn't focus much on Bernadette except on some specially heartbreaking moments where she meets her family and when she tries to escape, the film tactfully tries not to make fun of all the situations and reckons the dramatic potential of the story. A similar moment occurs when Momo watches his mother in the bathroom. And he's like hypnotized, he feels in love, this is not a love of lust but of unconscious Oedipal attraction, and it's understandable as long as we accept that she's not supposed to be his mother, but the scene shows that Chatillez pushes his concept as far as he can as long as it feels real, which it does.

Chatillez makes a little rushed out third act concluding with a series of disjointed events showing that the experience changed the two families, there's a feeling of unfinished result that might disconcert the viewers, but after all, the story didn't have to have a proper ending, just like a long quiet river doesn't have to end somewhere

This movie will warm part of your black heart. We get to see the set up for the reason that two families, which in reality exist in two worlds which never interact, are forced into contact. When the "good" family finds out about their switched child, they seek to recover the child from the "bad" family and raise it in their home along with their other children, natural and switched. Their life quickly deteriorates with numerous misfortunes and confrontations. Towards the end, the "good" mother is seen belting down scotch in the kitchen, her older son comforts her with the tag line "Mom,life is not a river quietly flowing." Many funny scenes and embarrassing situations. If you liked The tall blond many with one black shoe, give this little movie an opportunity.

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.