Clara and Chics Types (1981)
Three days in the lives of six friends who are nearly 30 years old, live in Grenoble, and have a rock band called the "Why Notes?". They're to play in Paris at Charles's school reunion. In getting to Paris and back, the characters interact with Aimee's ex-husband and her abrasive, cruel ex-mentor, Louise's would-be lover who turns out to have a husband, Mickey's long-time lover and her children, Bertrand's Germanic wife and their children who speak no French, and Frederic's distant mother. The band also meets Clara, a mercurial free spirit who beguiles Bertrand, then Mickey, then takes up with someone else in the band.
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Great Film overall
Captivating movie !
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
Blistering performances.
This is probably one of the most important films in french comedy. It reflects upon a new generation of aging adolescents who live simple lives in Grenoble. A dentist, a writer a teacher, a cop, two unemployed persons and other few friends share one experience: the transition of power from right to left in the Presidency. The cultural freedom granted in 1981 is seen by the use of pirate radio, which where later legalized. But it's more the encounter for a common passion: music. The pleasure of listening to it and playing it. Thery form a group called the "Why Notes" which has a gig programmed in a Paris school where a member of the band spent his childhood. But most of all, it's a very poetic and funny story. The Who's Who of French comedy plays in that movie. The members of the Splendid group (whose famous movies include "Les Bronzés", "Le Pere Noël est une ordure", "Papy fait de la résistance", ...) Josiane Balasko, Thierry Lhermitte and Christian Clavier are associated to Daniel Auteuil and Isabelle Adjani. As if you would associate the original cast of Saturday Night Live with John Cusack and Julianne Moore. Ant to top that, you'll enjoy the surrealist performance of Christophe Bourseiller, always a question apart from reality. The only disappointment with the movie is the fact that it has not been released yet on DVD. So, don't hesitate to write a letter to Gaumont to complaint about it!
Cute but dumb comedy drama about French new wave band with questionable talent and their adventures en route to playing a gig in Paris. Isabelle Adjani has little more than an extended cameo and is used similarly to how Suzanne Sommers in American Graffiti and Bo Derek in 10 were employed. It's not hard to see why this one never got a US release.