Summary
Roberto, a freelance musician, agrees to give a New Year’s Eve concert of chamber music
and Viennese waltzes at an aristocrat’s château in Normandy. He assembles
a sextet of musicians from his friends, but soon realises he has problems. His flutist,
Thérèse, is nine months’ pregnant and might give birth at any moment; his
cellist, Lionel, is a kleptomaniac; is viola player, Martial is hypersensitive and flares
up whenever the mood takes him; his violist, Diana, has an inferiority complex; and his
clarinettist cannot read a note of music. To make matters worse, the conductor,
Svarowski, has yet to turn up...
Review
Les Cachetonneurs is a pleasing low-key comedy which, whilst somewhat unpolished
and sluggardly in places, offers an amusing portrait of a band of disparate musicians
who have to freelance to practice their art. It is the first full length film from
director Denis Dercourt, himself a classical musician who teaches at the Strasbourg Music
Conservatory. Dercourt’s inexperience as a director is more than made up by the sense
of authenticity that his experience as a musician brings to the film.
Most of the pleasure of the film lies in the increasingly strained relationships between
the characters. As personal problems and bitter enmities drive them apart, it is
their love of music which somehow keeps them together. In capturing the commitment
and camaraderie between a group of very individualistic musicians, the film is at its
most revealing and engaging.
Les Cachetonneurs includes a number of talented, relatively unknown, young actors
who, from their performances in this film, clearly look set for better things. Pierre
Lacan and Marie-Christine Laurent are certainly two names to watch out for.
© James Travers 2001
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