My Uncle Benjamin (1969)
Benjamin is in love with Manette, the innkeeper's beautiful daughter, but she has no intention of giving in to the young doctor until she sees the marriage contract, and marriage does not fit in with Benjamin's spirit of independence. For the same reason he resists the efforts of his sister Bettine to marry him off to Arabelle, the daughter of old Dr. Minxit. Benjamin does agree to go and meet the girl. But that evening his sister finds him at the inn together with Manette, who is arrested by her father. So she decides to go with Benjamin herself. But as result of an incident with the fat Marquis puts paid to the expedition. Benjamin is subjected by the Marquis to a humiliating practical joke. Benjamin is determined to got his revenge. He succeeds thanks to the gorgeous Vicomte Hector de Pont-Cassé, who also helps Manette with her problems against her father. But Benjamin is now arrested by the Marquis...
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This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.
it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.
Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
The first picture is a painting ,while a voice over tells us that ,when king Louis XV was reigning,France was the country of the Douceur de Vivre .An idyllic view ,which must be far from the reality,but who cares? This is a vivid picaresque story,full of Joie de Vivre,which features singer Jacques Brel as a bon vivant, a womanizer fond of the bottle,but who falls for the innkeeper's daughter,played by Truffaut's protégée ,Claude Jade.Besides he is a doctor,who treats the Poor for free.His worst enemy is the Marquis de Cambyse who humiliates him by forcing him to kiss his a.....The wind of the soon-to-come revolution is softly blowing in the wind.But it does blow.
Like the viewer Gilles, from Paris, I have seen many times this film on late night TV when I was a teenager in the 1970's. It was one of my favorite film. More than 20 years later, I just saw it again on late night TV and I was surprise how I was familiar to all the jokes, the words, the acting, just like I was with a very old friend. This is a beautiful film! There's a sparkle to it that makes it unforgettable. Also, I think that the caracter Benjamin, played by singer Jacques Brel, looks a lot like his wonderful songs. Brel was never a great actor, but here, he seems to play himself in a very warm way. The rest of the cast is also unique. Now, I have this on tape and I will see my old friend anytime I want.
I have fond memories of this movie, which used to be shown on French TV repeatedly in the 70's, and not only because of Jacques Brel. This is picaresque at its best, the story of a XVIIIe Century country doctor prone to applied libertinism (preferably in haystacks with well-endowed girls) and free-thinking. Shot in 1969, its "paillardise" - bawdiness - is perhaps as faithful to the original novel as to its own time, and absolutely enjoyable. Think about a mixture of Cyrano and Tom Jones (the movie, not the singer). Brel is wonderful, though again the sympathetic proto-revolutionary hero, as are Claude Jade and the rest of a colorful cast.