Get Out Your Handkerchiefs
Director: Bertrand Blier
Year Released: 1978
Rating: 3.0
At first I was caught off guard by the crude, outlandish behavior of the two men (Gérard Depardieu and Patrick Dewaere) trying to please a near-catatonic woman (Carole Laure, gorgeous and unafraid to take edgy roles ... and believe me, it's hard to top masturbating in a pool of chocolate), who has presumably lost all drive and desire (she cleans and sews), until I realized that the entire picture works on this absurdist level, showing men as being bumbling and unperceptive, unable to emotionally please the women they lust after, and the women as being mostly alien and withdrawn and unsatisfied by the men they're with. The comical portrayal of 'men' and 'women' is offset by an unusual look at 'youth,' and in particular the longhaired boy who is something of a grifter and shrewdly manipulates everyone around him. It's a caricature of romantic frustration, and Blier successfully makes his point.
