When the closing credits of the movie roll ,"what a wonderful world" (not Louis Armstrong's version) is ironically heard ,giving the coup de grace to the portrait of a beautiful loser in a hostile depressing environment.
Pierre Jolivet's film is a thriller in disguise ; although ,towards the end ,his work turns film noir, it's essentially the portrait of a loser , masterfully portrayed by Olivier Gourmet ,one of the best European actors: in spite of his plight ,of an ominous future in sight ( "when I retire , I 'll have to go the Restaurants du Coeur -a charity organization which provides the needy with food- ,before ending my life in in a place for old people )- ,the thespian never overacts , but his gestures of disillusions ,his hangdog looks and his tired eyes tell the whole story of a man who fell by the wayside when he became unemployed on account of a ruthless economy ;all he can find is casual works ,
with fixed-term contract ;a permanent one is possible, but when ? ("and anyway,do not expect a pay r(a)ise ")
He used to work as a skilled workman,now he's a night watchman, "a job where you get paid to do nothing" ; his life is cruelly empty: no wife or children, no partner , only cigarettes and a bottle to kill time ; the scene is the chic restaurant is revealing : when he looks at those people who dine dressed up to the nines ,we feel his resentment :why did they get so lucky ?
More than a thriller (only the last part deals with the genre ),it's a wandering through an urban landscape ,often in the darkest night ; some friendly faces ,like Etienne,his former colleague ,Ketou,his black friend he somewhat takes care of ,and mainly the social worker who has her own problems,played by Valerie Bonneton who gives a moving compassionate performance; her smile can lighten this dreary landscape .
Looking at the migratory birds flying high in the sky,heading for the hot countries , the hero's mate words are a transparent metaphor : "these birds never let one of them down ; they make love over here ,and then they leave us for better horizons "
As he contemplates the sky ,the unfortunate hero seems to think :"why can't we?"
