SoTrumpBelieve Must See Movie...

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Lela The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Charlot47 While France is threatening to erupt into revolution during the beautiful spring weather of May 1968, a family of the haute bourgeoisie assembles at a large country house in the lovely Gers area of the South-West for the funeral of the matriarch and the division of her goods. The former is delayed because municipal workers, including the gravediggers, have all gone on strike, while the latter is disrupted by two events. First, the notary arrives to read the will, which gives 25% of movables to the young housekeeper, who has been comforting the eldest son Milou, leaving only 75% for the family. Then the old lady's jewels are found short, raided by a granddaughter who promptly renews an old association with the notary in the hay loft.So the time passes, between and during meals, with wrangles over material goods and many amatory diversions. One might almost think that this group of people, most of whom who have little or no concern about the events convulsing their country, are interested only in food, money and sex, plus a bit of music and marijuana. Aftre alarming reports of impending disaster on the radio and from rich neighbours, panic seizes them. Abandoning the delightful house and without taking anything useful, they irrationally hide in the woods. Cold, wet and hungry, they are saved by the housekeeper, who finds them to give the news that President de Gaulle is back in charge of the nation and everything will return to normal. After at last burying the old lady, the family return to their preoccupations: the spectre of revolution has passed.Altogether it could be a posthumous piece by Buñuel, which is not surprising as the script is by his long-lived and prolific collaborator, Jean-Claude Carrière. Surrealism has several outings, from the opening where the eldest son calms his bees by declaiming Latin verse to the ending where his dead and buried mother returns to the empty house to dance with him. While the impotence of the bourgeoisie, imprisoned in their obsessions, recalls the trapped party in "El ángel exterminador" as well as the couples on their inescapable carousel in "Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie", the subsequent flight into wilds that are not Eden evokes "La muerte en este jardín". In the end, the character who really shows common sense and care for others is the housekeeper, a working-class woman.Despite many echoes of the provocative Spanish maestro, this work is wholly French in feeling and execution. Even the one foreign actress, Harriet Walter playing an Englishwoman, speaks the language excellently.

jotix100 As the story begins, an elderly woman is seen in her kitchen. Suddenly, something strikes her and she dies in front of our eyes. Milou, her oldest son, living in the estate, tries to notify the family that are scattered all over France. It is a difficult time for the country. May of 1969 marked a serious time for France as hordes of left wing individuals took to the streets in protest against one of the most beloved figures, General Charles DeGaulle. As the family pours in, the situation begins to turn ugly. Even in this peaceful corner in rural France, people are seen in the country lanes singing The International and carrying communist flags. The first to arrive is Camille, Milou's daughter. Married to a doctor, and with three children, her mind is on whatever can be sold to be divided among the heirs. Her love toward the dead grandmother is clearly not so strong.The other sibling, Georges, comes in with his English wife, Lily, a sensual woman, much younger than her husband. Claire, a niece by way of Georges and Milou, arrives with a female companion, showing obvious signs of being in a lesbian relationship. Claire's parents died in an automobile accident, leaving her to claim a third of whatever is made out of what the family decide to sell.Everyone is surprised when Daniel, the notary, comes to read the dead lady's will. Adele, the loyal servant, has been made a lawful heir, so the estate must be divided by four. Calculating Camille has taken care of stealing an emerald ring from her grandmother's jewelry chest without telling anyone. Claire is the only one that questions her cousin. Much bickering goes on as nothing is found to have great value, but the land and its vineyards might bring a decent prize, but Milou, having lived in the place all his life does not want to part with it. To complicate the situation, there is a problem with the burial of the dead lady. The grave diggers at the local cemetery are on strike, so the woman continues to be laid out at the house without no clear solution in mind. That problem does not interfere with some merrymaking from the family as they get giddy with drink. The arrival of a truck driver who could not continue his journey because of the barricades, and some scared neighbors, make the group abandon the house and go into the adjacent woods where all kinds of mishaps befall them until the political situation gets clear and everyone can go back to their lives, but leaving Milou alone in the house with his memories of happier times, and abandoned by the clan."May Fools" was one of Louis Malle's best films, yet it is seldom seen nowadays. With a screenplay by Jean Claude Carriere and the director, the film evokes "Uncle Vanya", a theme which Mr. Malle explored in his wonderful "Uncle Vanya on 42nd Street" on his last work for the screen. Against the turmoil in France during that fateful May, the creators work to create an atmosphere about a family in crisis, juxtaposing the action against the political situation reigning at the time. The idea of upcoming changes in France caused panic among the bourgeois family members, as it presented a menace to their way of life, as they knew it. The younger relatives took a different view, in contrast with what was expected of them.The great Michel Piccoli made a wonderful patriarch figure in his take of Milou. His work in the film was among the best things he was called to play. Milou was powerless in the machinations that were all around him. Miou Miou's Camille shows a callous woman who is only interested in her own welfare, not caring for the rest of the family. Dominique Blanc is excellent as Claire. The supporting cast impresses, especially Harriet Walker, Francois Berleand, Michael Duchaussoy, Bruno Carette, Martine Gautier and Paulette Dubost, who is the dead Mrs. Vieuzac throughout the film. Lovingly photographed by Renato Berta and with a jazzy musical score by Stephane Grappelli, "May Fools" is worth a look by serious fans of the Louis Malle.

Michael Neumann It's easy to understand why the late Louis Malle was such a respected filmmaker after seeing this comedy of manners, inspired (again) by the director's own childhood memories. The film begins when a grandmother's death in the spring of 1968 reunites three generations of family at a country estate in southern France. But their mingled grief and affection is soon overshadowed by news of the student riots in faraway Paris, and their already fragile bourgeois equilibrium is unbalanced by the distant echoes of uninhibited anarchy. The parallels between the family crisis and the world at large are obvious, but rarely has a corpse lying in state been surrounded by so much activity: private longings, public declarations, old resentments and new romances are all given sudden priority over preparations for the old woman's burial. Consistently graceful, often surprising, the film is an affectionate valentine from Malle to the extended family of his youth, and a gift to discriminating movie audiences during a long, dry summer.

joNNi Milou en Mai finds the aging Louis Malle at his most wickedly wistful, directing mischievous set pieces and ultimately expressing nervous laughter at his own mortality. Made more in the traditions of British farce than the traditional French 'sophistication', in being set to the background of the 60's union unrest and student riots, the film keeps a subtle check on the ridiculous. Examining death, family relationships, marital relationships, extra-marital relationships and the different ways people perceive their lot in life, Milou en Mai has something for everyone: farcical comedy, beautiful cinematography, perceptive commentary, delightful anecdotes (I'm thinking of the opening bee-keeper scene and crab-catching in the river) and fantastic 'Hot Club de France' bowing and strumming. This film is one of my all time favourites - gentle, intelligent, sensitive fun - highly recommended.