Roger Coggio
2021Du côté de la côte
Agnès Varda
Roger Coggio, Anne Ollivier
Tongue-in-cheek look at the French Riviera, especially in summer when it overflows with tourists. Reviews its history and famous visitors; displays its faux-exotic buildings, its crowded beaches, its trees and monuments; and, pokes fun at the colors women wear and the vagaries of fashion. The film celebrates the use of "Eden" as a place name, suggesting that paradise comes to the coast after all are gone, perhaps only on a remote island beach.
Along the Coast
Avant le déluge
André Cayatte
Antoine Balpêtré, Paul Bisciglia
The title of this French "reality" drama, which translates to Before the Deluge, is a play on Louis XVI's famous prognostication, "Apres moi, le deluge." Set in 1950, the film concentrates on five Parisian adolescents. Certain that the next war will herald the apocalypse, the youngster make plans to run off to a desert island and set up a new society. This, however, will require money, which is why the boys decide to pull off a "necessary" robbery. Idealism collapses in the face of cold reality, as the five youths suffer from the consequences of their actions. Avant le Deluge was one of a group of films cowritten by director Andre Cayatte and Charles Spaak which endeavored to explore the touchy social issues of the day: others in the Cayatte-Spaak canon include the euthanasia-themed Justice est Faite and the capital-punishment tract Nous sommes tous des assassins.
Before the Deluge
Le temps des loups
Sergio Gobbi
Robert Hossein, Charles Aznavour
Patterning himself after the American gangster John Dillinger, the criminal (Robert Hossein) is tracked by the inspector (Charles Aznavour), a former childhood friend. Plenty of gunplay and psychology is used to trap the killer. His only tender moments are spent with his girlfriend Stella (Virna Lisi). Dillinger is cornered by the police and kills several innocent victims in a crowd during the shootout. The mob decides to take things into their own hands as they approach the doomed man with a noose when he runs out of bullets.
Time of the Wolves
Le bourgeois gentilhomme
Roger Coggio
Michel Galabru, Rosy Varte
In this adaptation of the play by Molière, Monsieur Jourdain, social climber, nouveau rich but naive, dreams of being recognized in high society. He hires masters of music, dance, philosophy. He has gone mad with thoughts of honors, decorations, and power.
Le bourgeois gentilhomme
Les noces de porcelaine
Roger Coggio
Colette Teissèdre, Mylène Demongeot
Guests gather for the porcelain anniversary of a couple. When another woman's husband leaves her in front of everyone's eyes, the anniversary-celebrating husband gallantly makes loves to her in front of the same people. Then a sexual and confessional free-for-all erupts, until one of the wives, repulsed, runs away.
The Porcelain Anniversary
