L'Événement le plus important depuis que l'homme a marché sur la lune
1973 Comedy Fantasy
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Credits
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Summary
Marco Mazetti, a driving school instructor, has a harmonious life with
his girlfriend Irène, the owner of a hairdresser’s salon, and
their young son. Then, one day, Marco begins to experience
inexplicable bouts of nausea. On the advice of Irène’s
doctor, he is sent to see the eminent gynaecologist Professor Chaumont
who discovers that he is fourth months pregnant. Marco is
incredulous but Chaumont has the explanation. His theory is that
modern drugs and food processing is inducing an evolutionary change in
the human species. The time has come for men to start giving
birth!Review
What began as a private joke between Jacques Demy and his wife
Agnès Varda about the prospect of men giving birth ended as this
sweet-natured role-reversal comedy starring real-life lovers Catherine
Deneuve and Marcello Mastroianni. Whilst Demy doesn’t get
anywhere near to exploiting the full comic potential of the subject,
the film is considerably better than the majority of subsequent films
in which the role of men and women is reversed. The main reason
for this is Mastroianni’s engaging performance, which brings a sense of
realism to what is after all an absurd fantasy. It’s nice that
Demy took the time to develop a semi-plausible theory as to why men
should start having babies; doubtless if he made the film today, the
answer would have something to do with genetically modified organisms.
The film’s controversial subject matter, and possibly its ridiculously long title, may have contributed to its failure at the box office. Unable to attract funding for a subsequent film in France, Jacques Demy ended up having to accept a commission from a Japanese production company for his next film, Lady Oscar (1978). © James Travers 2006 |
 
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