Les Valseuses [Going Places] **** (1974, Gérard Depardieu, Miou-Miou, Patrick Dewaere, Brigitte Fossey) – Classic Movie Review 9598

Director Bertrand Blier’s 1974 Les Valseuses [Going Places], with its tale of two young juvenile delinquents, Jean-Claude and Pierrot (Gérard Depardieu, Patrick Dewaere), who abduct hairdresser Marie-Ange (Miou-Miou) and take to the road in an orgy of thuggish petty thievery, depicts levels of violence and sex that shocked and scandalised audiences back in 1974.

It went on to become the tenth biggest grossing film at the French box-office in the past 25 years at the time, and has since kept its freshness and ability to shock.

Depardieu is lighter on his feet but no less of an actor than he became later, while the much less well-known Dewaere matches his mordant vivacity. Les Valseuses has a strong attack of the Jean-Luc Godards, but it is still stylish, pacey and amusing in its own right.

Also in the cast are Jeanne Moreau, Jacques Chailleux, Michel Peuerlon, Brigitte Fossey, Isabelle Huppert, Michel Peyrelon, Dominique Davray, Marco Perrin, Gérard Boucaron, Christian Alers and Eva Damien.

Depardieu started acting at the small travelling theatre Café de la Gare with Dewaere and Miou-Miou. Les Valseuses was his breakthrough to stardom, establishing a new type of hero in the French cinema.

Les Valseuses is slang for ‘balls’.

Les Valseuses [Going Places] is directed by Bertrand Blier, runs 118 minutes, is made by S N Prodis, Compagnie Artistique de Productions et d’Adaptations Cinématographiques (CAPAC) and Uranus Productions France (UPF), is released by Gala Film Distributors (1992) (UK), is written by Bertrand Blier and Philippe Dumarçay, based on a novel by Bertrand Blier, is shot by Bruno Nuytten, is produced by Paul Claudon and is scored by Stéphane Grappelli.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9598

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