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Credits
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Summary
In a remote village, a family of hard-working country
folk known as the 'Goupis' live at an inn, proud of their history and distrusting
of all outsiders. The youngest member of the Goupi clan, Goupi-Monsieur,
now lives in Paris, but he is summoned to the Goupi's home by his father,
who is planning to marry him to the young Goupi-Mugeut. Soon after
Goupi-Monsieur arrives in the village, the elderly Goupi-L'Empereur is
found unconscious and the imperious housekeeper Goupi-Tisane is discovered
dead in the forest. When a wad of money goes missing, the Goupis
fear that their ancestral treasure has also been stolen. Only Goupi-L'Empereur
knows the whereabouts of the teasure but he is unable to speak. The
finger of suspicion points squarely at the new arrival, Goupi-Monsieur.
However, the wisest of the Goupis, Goupi mains rouges, has another theory...Review
With its extraordinary combination of black comedy, thriller,
romance and neo-realist flourishes, Goupi mains rouges is almost
certainly Jacques Becker’s most unusual film, and one which offers
a rare unromantic depiction of French country life. It was made at
the time of the German occupation of France during World War II and, like
many films of this period, this is reflected in the film's dark mood of
pessimism and cynical depiction of human nature. Unusually,
Becker manages to make light of this dark subject matter and the film manages
to be an entertaining black comedy as well as an atmospheric rural thriller.
The grim noirish style of cinematography (which Becker would later use so effectively in his 1953 policier Touchez pas au grisbi) gives the narrative its very palpable sense of menace, and elements of suspense thriller are employed to heighten tension and create a frustrating sense of mystery. The darkness of the setting is both amplified and lightened by the bizarre menagerie of characters which populates the film. The Goupis are collectively a brilliant creation, including individuals that range from the pathetic to the truly grotesque, an obvious caricature yet one which offers at least a partly convincing portrait of a close-knit rural family. The film's strength lies in the quality of the performances and the depth of characterisation. Fernard Ledoux's taciturn Goupi-Mains rouges is magnificently complimented by Robert Le Vigan's outrageously over-the-top portrayal of Goupi-Tonkin, and Georges Rollin easily wins our sympathy as the innocent outsider Goupi-Monsieur. This is a character-based fiction in the truest sense of the word, and it is this, perhaps more than anything, which makes Goupi mains rouges such a delightful and memorable piece of cinema. © James Travers 2002 |
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