Vincent, Francois, Paul and the Others

Three friends in their fifties: Vincent, whose small factory is going under, François, whose clinic is doing well and whose marriage is over, and Paul, who calls himself a writer and cannot write. Around them are a young boxer, former lovers, and a country house where they gather at weekends. The film is not interested in crisis. It is interested in the maintenance of friendship: these men do not tell each other the truth, hide their money troubles, and still meet at the same table every week. Its best scenes are the meals in which nobody admits anything. The form is everyday: long conversations, overlapping dialogue, a refusal of dramatic peaks. Claude Sautet's whole cinema rests on that register. Yves Montand plays Vincent, Michel Piccoli François and Serge Reggiani Paul. Gérard Depardieu plays the young boxer, still early in his career, and his physical presence stands in direct contrast to the tiredness of the other three. Who it is for: viewers who love seventies French cinema and portraits of middle age. Who it is not for: anyone waiting for events. The film is almost entirely conversation and nobody's life improves by the end.