Purely Joyful Movie!

one of my absolute favorites!

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

This charming slice of Parisian street life throbs with vibrant energy in the dependable hands of its gifted director Jacques Becker, whose fourth feature it was. It contains relatively few of the sweeping dollies & tracks that characterised his previous film 'Falbalas', instead bombarding the viewer with a collage of dramatic compositions (including some of the biggest closeups seen before Sergio Leone got behind a camera) cut together at breakneck speed by his regular editor Marguerite Renoir. All the acting, down to the smallest part, is superb.The sheer gusto with which this film is put together helps gloss over the bleak reality of its eponymous young lovers' existence in their tiny attic flat; the lottery ticket that occupies the final leg of the film being something of a red herring. Like the sudden windfall that rescues Emil Jannings from destitution at the conclusion of 'Der Letzte Mann', the release from a world of petty privations and even more petty employers their lottery win represents is poignant for the fact that it will in actuality never become reality for most young people like Antoine & Antoinette. The incredibly phony looking back-projection behind the two young lovers as they head off to the horizon on his new motorcycle at the film's conclusion may well be intended to highlight the fact that real life, alas, rarely provides endings like this.

Gathering up a number of DVDs to give to a friend as an Easter present,I decided to search around for any interesting sounding French Drama's.Taking a look at a DVD sellers page,I was delighted to stumble upon a French Comedy Drama which had a number of enticing IMDb reviews,which led to me happily getting ready to meet Antoine and Antoinette for the first time.The plot:Leaving M.Roland's local shop after picking up his daily bread,Antoine Moulin begins taking a look at a motorbike being sold next door.Asking the owner about the price,Antoine is sadden to learn that the owner is asking for an amount which he could never afford.Walking away from the motorbike and heading back to his old-fashion bike,Moulin discovers to his horror,that along with knocking it down,M.Roland's delivery van has also run over the bike and broken its wheels.Walking back home from work,Antoinette Moulin notices that across the road her husband is getting into an argument with shop keeper M.Roland,due to Roland refusing to accept responsibility for the breaking of the bike.Knowing that Roland has a less then secret attraction towards her,Antoinette decides to interrupt the boys fight by flashing her eyelashes at Roland,who instantly begins sorting out a replacement bike for her husband. As the days go by,Antoine finds himself becoming increasingly annoyed at Antoinette dominance in the relationship.Getting some of his anger out,Antoine decides to empty Antoinette's'handbag over the kitchen table.Deep in the heaps of rubbish,Antoine finds a lottery ticket.With Antoinette getting ready for work,Antoine decides to pick up an old newspaper and to check the number.Expecting to find that the tickets been a waste of cash,Antoine is left breathless,when he discovers that Antoinette has won the jack pot.Originally expecting the jackpot to give them more happiness than ever before,Antoine and Antoinette soon find out that the winning numbers may not be as lucky as they originally appeared.View on the film:Made at a time when a sense of optimism was sweeping across France thanks to the end of WWII,co-writer/ (along with Maurice Griffe and Francoise Giroud) director Jacques Becker expertly reflects the mood with fluid camera moves which reveal the 'bright future' atmosphere that all of the characters have.Becker shows the streets to be packed with closed-knitted communities going about their daily routine,and also that there is a new influx of money on the horizon,which give working class people such as Antoine and Antoinette a firm belief that a jackpot is within their grasp.For the brilliant screenplay of the film,the writers keep away from turning the movie into something sickly sweet by using the impact that women had in the work forces of WWII as a smart way to show the changing dynamics of the 'traditional' relationship,thanks to Antoine and Antoinette both being shown to be their own bosses at the work place,and the writers also showing Antoinette to be much more focused on solving the issues related to the lottery ticket,than the far weaker Antoine is.Along with taking a close look at the title character's relationship,the writer's also put a golden ticket at the centre of the film,which along with showing the wealth that was entering people's lives also gives the writers the chance to include a number of tantalising fights for money,with Becker giving the movie a surprisingly hard-nose in a brutal final fight,which inadvertently leads to the lottery trouble being solved in a wonderful twist.Playing what appears to be a newly married couple,Roger Pigaut and the pretty Claire Maffei both give excellent performances,with both actors each bringing something to the relationship.Maffei gives Antoinette a strong masculine side as she finds herself having to support her stressed-out husband,whilst Pigaut only expresses his masculine side in short rough'n' tumble bursts,as Pigaut shows Antoine to be clutching at straws over solving the troubles of the winning ticket,as Antoinette and Antoine reveal themselves to be a winning couple.

"Antoine et Antoinette" is Jacques Becker's fourth movie and it takes place in a working-class milieu ;"Goupi Mains Rouges" was a rural thriller and "Falbalas" took us to the chic world of models and fashion.At first sight,"Antoine and Antoinette" could be looked upon as an update of René Clair's "le Million" .But the latter has become -at least to these eyes- unbearable with its old-fashioned "songs" and its ludicrous -with the exception of the lovely Annabella- cast. "Antoine and Antoinette",on the other hand,retains its pristine charm ,it's very well acted ,and Becker's camera is fluid ,his sympathy for his characters is glaring ,qualities which will emerge again in such works as "Rendez-vous de Juillet" and his towering achievement "Casque D'Or" .The lottery ticket as a way out of poverty was also in Julien Duvivier's classic "La Belle Equipe" ,but it was 1947 ,the baby boom time when people were optimistic in France .Roger Pigaut was one of the best romantic young leads of the era ,but he never became a big star ,which was unfair.As for his partner,Claire Mafféi ,she was virtually forgotten after Becker's film.Noel Roquevert who made hundreds of films (he played a small part in "les Diaboliques") is cast against type as a vicious middle age man,trying to sleep with Antoinette.In his best works,Becker recreates a microcosm : the rural world of "Goupi" (it may be unrealistic,it works all the same),the enthusiastic bunch of students in "Rendez-vous de Juillet" ,the "Apaches" and their laws in "Casque d'Or" ,the prisoners in their cell in "le Trou".Here he works wonders when it comes to depicting the life of these humble people,their seedy apartments ,their metro,the work they are proud of ,and most of all the class solidarity through the pleasure and the pain.

Jacques Becker was a successful chronicler of the post World War II generation who made remarkable films which dealt ironically with the problems of its protagonists.His creation,Antoine et Antoinette has remained a minor Proletarian classic.It has rightly been hailed by some critics as a light romantic comedy.The film boasts of a typically French psychological analysis.Becker has cast a fascinating look at the working class life by attempting social description in nuances.Antoine et Antoinette succeeded by incorporating all the essential themes with which a typical working class family could easily indentify itself.