''Bonsoir'' is a 1994 French film directed by

Jean-Pierre Mocky Jean-Pierre Mocky (6 July 1929 – 8 August 2019), pseudonym of Jean-Paul Adam Mokiejewski, was a French film director, actor, screenwriter and producer. Life and career Mocky was born in Nice, France to Polish immigrant parents, Jeanne Zylinska ...

Plot

Having first lost his wife, then his job as a tweed tailor, Alex Ponttin (

Michel Serrault Michel Serrault (24 January 1928 – 29 July 2007) was a French stage and film actor who appeared from 1954 until 2007 in more than 130 films. Life and career His first professional job was in a touring production in Germany of Molière's '' Les ...

) has devised a novel way to keep himself in touch with society. He admits himself into people's homes by pretending to be a relative or an official and persuading his victims to give him a night's free board. He finds at first a lunch with the horrible couple Dumont (Jean-Pierre Bisson and Maike Jansen), where a thief follows him for a robbery. Alex spent an evening in front of TV at Marie (

Marie-Christine Barrault Marie-Christine Barrault (born 21 March 1944) is a French actress. She is best known for her performance in '' Cousin Cousine'' (1975) for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. In 2010, she released her autobiography, ti ...

), mother of seven children. He runs from Marie to find an evening and a new bed at the home of charming but shy lesbian Caroline (

Claude Jade Claude Marcelle Jorré, better known as Claude Jade (; 8 October 1948 – 1 December 2006), was a French actress. She starred as Christine in François Truffaut's three films '' Stolen Kisses'' (1968), '' Bed and Board'' (1970) and '' Love on th ...

) and her funny lover Gloria (

Corinne Le Poulain Corinne Le Poulain ( – ) was a List of French actors, French actress. Niece of actor Jean Le Poulain, she seduced Jean Marais on-screen in the film ''La Provocation'' (1969). She was famous as Sally in TV-series ''Sam & Sally''. She was a great ...

). To save her inheritance, Caroline - accused for her homosexuality by her horrible sister Catherine (Laurence Vincendon) - tells her aunt Amélie (Monique Darpy) that Gloria is her secretary and Alex her lover. Alex has to present himself nude in Caroline's bed. He saves Caroline's inheritance. The police officers (

Jean-Claude Dreyfus Jean-Claude Dreyfus (born 18 February 1946, in Paris) is a French actor, comedian, and author. He began his career in film acting in 1973 in the film ''Comment réussir quand on est con et pleurnichard''. Dreyfus is notable for his portrayal ...

) investigating the case are so terminally stupid that Alex has little chance of being arrested. As in many of

's films, there is a strong anti-establishment, almost anarchist subtext. This is manifested in the way that the self-proclaimed moral figures (the police, the clergy, even the President of the Republic) are presented in this film, but also in the elevation of Alex Ponttin to the status of a public hero at the end of the film. Whilst society and state sink into a numbing inertia, bereft of integrity and humanity, it is left to the eccentrics, the outsiders like worried Caroline, who is attacked by her sister and her aunt because the secret of her

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

, to build a more cohesive society and a better world. Michel Serrault excels in this off-the-wall satirical comedy which makes a bizarre assessment of modern life. He plays an impish vagrant who uses his new-found freedom to improve the lives of his fellow man, by briefly insinuating himself into their lives. Bonsoir goes much further and suggests that whole of modern society, not only the police, is culpable of mediocrity and moral laxity. It takes an outsider like Alex Ponttin, free from the bonds of modern living, to point the way to a better future.

Cast

as Alex Ponttin *

as Caroline Winberg *

as Marie *

as Gloria *

as Bruneau * Jean-Pierre Bisson as Marcel Dumont * Maike Jansen as Yvonne Dumont *Laura Grandt as Greta * Catherine Mouchet as Eugénie *

Serge Riaboukine Serge Riaboukine (born 29 December 1957) is a French actor. Theatre Filmography References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Riaboukine, Serge 1957 births Living people French male film actors French male television actors French pe ...

as Father Bonfils * Laurence Vincendon as Caroline's sister * Monique Darpy as Caroline's aunt *

Dominique Zardi Dominique Zardi (born Emile Jean Cohen-Zardi; 2 March 1930 – 13 December 2009) was a French actor from Paris. He acted in more than 200 feature films, including '' Fantômas'' with Louis De Funès and Jean Marais. He died of cancer at the age of ...

as Caroline's neighbour

References

External links

* * {{Amg movie, 163943, Bonsoir
Bonsoir at DVDtoile
1994 films French LGBT-related films Lesbian-related films 1990s French-language films 1994 LGBT-related films Films directed by Jean-Pierre Mocky 1990s French films

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links