The Suitor
Directed by Pierre Etaix
Written by Pierre Etaix and Jean-Claude Carriere
1962/France
C.A.P.A.C/Cocinor/Copra Films
FilmStruck/First viewing
[box] “You don’t need scores of suitors. You need only one… if he’s the right one.” ― Louisa May Alcott, Little Women[/box]
If you like Tati, you really ought to give Etaix a try.
Pierre (Etaix) is a truly strange and obsessive young man. As the movie begins, he seems to spend of of his time in his lavishly decorated bedroom studying astronomy and/or astrology. His parents decide it is time for him to marry. The amiable young man is only too happy to switch one obsession for another. He starts off by asking the Swedish au pair who lives with the family but she doesn’t understand English.
So Pierre must hit the streets. First, he happens upon a bossy drunk who is as obsessed with marriage as himself. But she is not for him and he falls for a singer he sees on TV.
This contains lots of dialogue-free visual comedy a la Tati with the same kind of funny sound effects. Pierre creates just as much mayhem as Monsieur Hulot but is decidedly odder. I laughed out loud several times. That earns a recommendation from me.
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