The Suitor

Pierre is a well brought up, polite young man who is somewhat disconnected from the world; the only thing that interests him is the sky and his telescope. His family now wants him to marry. Purely to please them, Pierre sets out to find a wife, and since he has no idea how, he falls for every rich and elegant woman he sees, one after another, without a moment's thought. Pierre Étaix's first feature works in the language of silent cinema: there is almost no talking, and everything is told through movement, objects and timing. His admiration for Buster Keaton is visible in every scene, though this is not imitation but a world of his own. He wrote the script with Jean-Claude Carrière. The film won the Prix Louis Delluc in 1962 and put Étaix at the centre of French comedy overnight.