Consider the cast: Richard Bohringer, Daniel Auteuil, Phillipe Leotard, Jean Yanne, Michel Piccoli, Fanny Ardant, Jeanne Moreau - seven of the heaviest hitters in French cinema - throw in a bargain priced DVD and who WOULDN'T buy it? This dream cast ensures that it IS worth watching but there are those who may struggle to cope with the surreal aspects which have some of the hallmarks of Death In A French Garden, the work of the same director. Here we have an ongoing bridge game in which the participants have titles rather than names - The Doctor, The Journalist, The Honorable Trader - in a slightly unrealistic setting that resembles a darker version of the one in Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, a vast space not unlike the Gare d'Orsay that Orson Welles utilised for The Trial. In the background is Jeanne Moreau, who bears yet another title, The Brothel Keeper; at her right-hand The Paltoquet (nonentity) Michel Piccoli and spending a great deal of time in an incongruous hammock is Fanny Ardant. The bridge game is interrupted by the Flic (Jean Yanne) who commandeers the Doctor to determine the cause of death of a body that has just been discovered. Soon the Doctor is accused (by Yanne) of the crime and in the fullness of time the other players are also accused. In terms of storyline that's about it. None of the principals is in need of acting lessons and it's never less than interesting but more than that ...
Review of Le paltoquet
