Claude Melki

A bicycle race is held every year in a pass of the Alps called Parpaillon. With the energy of a skillful cyclist perhaps as a great tribute to François, the mailman played by Tati in The Big Day, Moullet makes a comedy by pedaling at a pace that allows him to reinvent the possibilities of film gags. La Cabale des oursins is a guided tour to the northern France, transformed into a Geography lesson in the pataphysical style of an Alfred Jarry disciple.

As a rereading of his films, "Contretemps" (in the fight against time), Jean-Daniel Pollet brings together excerpts of his films and a report by Jean Baronnet. The author Philippe Sollers and philosopher Julia Kristeva voice their thoughts.

Without warning, Mélie disembarks on the cargo ship where her father has the sailor's blues. He remembers his drifts and his friend Max who used to get him into some crazy situations. He remembers Alice and Luc whom he decided to avenge. He has his grenade ready. But Melie has just arrived.

엘레나는 부자 남편을 만나 화려하지만 권태롭게 살아가고 있는 젊은 부인이다. 어느 날, 그녀는 자신의 짐을 들어준 계기로 이방인 같은 남자 프레드를 알게 된다. 사회의 모든 속박과 가식을 거부하는 자유로운 영혼 프레드는 엘레나의 생일 파티에 초대된다. 하지만 프레드는 마치 자신의 자유로움을 증명이라도 하듯 엘레나의 집에 있던 금고를 폭파시켜 버린다. 설상가상으로 그런 그의 모습에 반해버린 헬레나! 이제 파리의 미로 같은 지하철에서 경찰과 프레드, 그리고 엘레나와 그녀의 남편이 추격전을 벌인다. 과연 비상을 꿈꾸던 프레드의 탈출 시도는 성공하게 될까?...

Gaby is happy. After eighteen years of work, he is a flourishing mechanist. But one day, the mechanic of his life is out of order. He discovers that his assistant is in love with his wife. This one runs away with her daughter in law. So, Gaby's friends imagine a gambit to find them, at the moment where father and son enjoy pleasures of single life.

Leon who works as a bathhouse attendant discovers a passion for the tango that will change his life. He falls in love with Fumée, a young and pretty prostitute who becomes his partner in tango contests.

Gilles, who operates a money losing garage, teams up with his friends Max, who operates a scrap yard, and lawyer Xavier to open a brothel catering to women. They get the idea from Gilles' secretary Irma, a former prostitute. They are assisted in the implementation by Max's wife Juliette and Sabine who is mad for Gilles. Unfortunately Gilles has fallen for Florence the daughter of the conservative Prime Minister and his wife. When the Prime Minister tries to shut down the brothel Gilles decides to stand against him in the election.

The young artist Wanda Leibovitz comes to Paris, hoping to forget unfortunate love. Soon after arrival directly at the station Wanda meets the mysterious old woman suggesting to rent at it the room (whom the old woman, allegedly, held ready for the now deceased sister). Wanda doesn't know yet that this room will change all her life shortly after it slightly opens a mysterious forbidden door.

부인과 헤어진 마르코는 운전학원을 운영하며 아들이 하나 딸린 사랑스런 아내 이렌느와 동거중이다. 이렌느는 미장원을 운영하며 마르코와 달콤한 동거 생활을 이어가는데 맞벌이 부부라 가사는 가정부가 돌보고 있어 늘 식사가 부실하다. 그러던 어느 날 마르코의 건강에 이상이 온다. 과로려니하고 들린 병원에서 청천벽력 같은 소리를 듣는다. 남자인 마르코가 임신을 한 것 같다는 것이다. 놀란 마르코 부부는 전문의를 찾아 검진을 하지만 전문의는 오히려 남자의 임신에 대해 인정을 하고 이를 자신의 의학 전문기관을 통해 학술 발표를 하며 이일은 일파만파의 파장을 불러온다. 사회적 센세이션을 일으킨 이 사건으로 당사자인 마르코 부부는 처음엔 당황하고 부끄러워하지만 의학계에서는 오히려 종의 변형을 시대적으로 인정을 한다. 각종 환경의 변화와 음식물, 의약품의 검증되지 않은 부작용등의 사례를 들어 임신원인의 타당성을 규명한다. 이때 때를 맞추어 임산부 전문 용품 회사에서 남성용 임산용품 전속 계약이 들어오고 이들 부부는 어리둥절한 채로 현실을 받아들이게 된다. 사회 저명인사가 되어 학식 있는 사회 유명 인사들의 반 친환경적인 현대인의 환경요건과 종교적 규범까지 연일 토론의 장이 열리고 덩달아 마르코는 나날이 부풀어 오르는 배를 애지중지 잘 보호를 하지만 임신 7개월이 넘어서서 종합 검사 결과 임신이 아님이 밝혀진다. 단지 비만이었던 것이다.

In this French crime caper film, a young misfit (Jacques Higelin) who has grown tired of his job as a bank teller deliberately gets fired. When some underworld characters ask him to share the layout of the bank so that they can more effectively rob it, he does. He also joins in the robbery. But when members of the gang start shooting at one another, it becomes clear that he is definitely in over his head.

A short film by Jean Douchet

An apocalyptic vision of man after a cosmic catastrophe, this film is a terrifying metaphor of a dehumanized future. The Brazilian Cinema Novo, German expressionism of the twenties, and the ideologically motivated ‘cruelty’ of a Buñuel come together in this ferocious work of a French theatre collective – an ambitious, almost completely successful example of visual cinema at its best.

In a cul-de-sac in the Faubourg-Saint-Antoine, Leon shares two rooms with his sister Marie. In one, he receives his clients: he is a tailor. In the other, Marie receives her own: she is a clairvoyant. Leon was happy until he learned what Marie was hiding from him. She is actually a prostitute, and Maxime, her supposed fiancé, is her pimp. On the same day, Leon also discovers love in the form of Arlette, a provincial young woman picked up by Marie.

Former professor of natural history, Louis Compiegne lives in retirement in a big house, with Pascal, his faithful servant. The arrival of a young American student comes to disorder the quiet life of the pensioner.

A U.S. Treasury Department agent is sent to Morocco to find a fortune in counterfeit money hidden by the Nazis during World War II. The agent escapes from prison with the only man who knows the location of the bogus bills. The duo is shadowed by a group of former Nazi soldiers who hope they will lead them to recover the lost loot. The feature plays as a crime drama with overtones of international espionage.

A young man who lives with his aunt falls for a free-spirited German model in this uninspired drama. Although he runs off with her for the summer, he returns to his aunt to live off her money after the model and an old flame rekindle their romance. The story unfolds in a series of flashbacks.

Episodes in the lives of two country girls at school in Paris and their opinions.

André is a loser. He dreams of becoming a great writer and being sought after by wonderful women. To make something interesting happen in his life he visits political meetings.

누벨바그 시대의 주요 감독들이 파리의 여섯 구역을 무대로 만든 옴니버스 영화. 장 두셰는 카페 플로르를 무대로 젊은이들의 얘기를 다루고, 장 루슈의 ‘북역’은 롱 테이크의 실험적 사용으로 주목받았으며, 장 다니엘 폴레는 집창촌으로 소문난 생 드니 가의 싸구려 호텔에서 일어나는 일을 그린다. 보행자들이 걷기 불편한 에투알 광장에서 장 마르크가 겪는 불행을 보여주는 에릭 로메르와 몽파르나스와 르발루아에 사는 두 남자 사이에서 고민하는 한 여인의 이야기를 그린 고다르, 부모의 다툼을 더 이상 참을 수 없어 하는 16구의 고등학생을 주인공으로 삼은 클로드 샤브롤의 작품도 볼 만 하다.

Gala (1961), a more polished version of Pourvu, set in a black cha-cha nightclub. Relying more upon looks, faces, and unease, rather than gags or dialogue, Pollet sets the cool elegance of the club's manager against the decidedly uncool Melki and his sartorial inadequacies. - Village Voice

Pedro returns to the castle of his childhood, inhabited by his uncle, an indifferent being who scarcely notices his presence. At the castle, Pedro wanders between the park and the salons, playing the songs he composed on the guitar. He notices strange people around the castle.

Jean Daniel Pollet’ was 22 when he made his debut short movie, "Pourvu qu’on ait l’ivresse" in 1957. It is a study of loneliness set in the dance hall of suburban Paris in the 50's starring Claude Melki, a young unknown non-actor whom Pollet discovered and who would become the director’s acteur fétiche. Melki was also the central charcter in Gala which was filmed 3 years later. - TOFU magazine