The Common Man

1975 ""

The Common Man

7.3 | 1h30m | en | Drama

Georges Lajoie is a Parisian café owner. As every summer, Georges, his wife Ginette and grown-up son Léon go on holiday to Loulou's campsite, where they meet up with the Schumacher family (whose father is a bailiff) and the Colin family (who sells bras in the markets). This year, their peace is slightly disturbed by the proximity of a construction site where foreign workers are employed. Xenophobic comments are made. One evening at the ball, a fight breaks out between Lajoie, Albert Schumacher and two algerian immigrant workers...

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7.3 | 1h30m | en | Drama | More Info

Released: February. 26,1975 | Released Producted By: Sofracima , Country: France Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website:

Synopsis

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Cast

Jean Carmet , Pascale Roberts , Ginette Garcin

Director

Jacques Loiseleux

Producted By

Sofracima ,

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Trailers & Images

Cast

Jean Carmet

as Georges Lajoie

Germinal Nailcruncher Night Magic Les Misérables The Cabbage Soup The Lady Banker The Seventh Company Outdoors Black and White in Color The Return of the Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe

Pascale Roberts

as Madame Colin

I'm Staying Leon's Husband Incorrigible Three Men to Destroy Friends Operation Hong Kong Les loups dans la bergerie

Ginette Garcin

as Ginette Lajoie

Transfixed The Smurfs and the Magic Flute Charles and Lucie Cousin, Cousine Everybody He Is Nice, Everybody He Is Beautiful Killer

Reviews

WaspCorp Based on the novel by Bastid and Martens, Yves Boisset's diatribe against crass stupidity, cowardice and ordinary racism is as relevant and powerful today as it was when it first came out, through its uncompromising and realistic depiction of how latent xenophobia can often result in dramatic consequences. A controversial piece that needs to be seen even more so today when racism and rape allegations are more rife than ever.

dbdumonteil "Dupont-Lajoie" easily passes for Yves Boisset's best work.One can say the demonstration is ponderous ,one cannot deny its absolute efficiency.There's in this ruthless plot a spiral of violence which grabs the audience and pins them down till the last pictures.A petit bourgeois,Lajoie,(Jean Carmet's finest performance) ,go camping by the seaside with his missus and his son.There he meets up with friends whose daughter Brigitte (Isabelle Huppert:it's the movie that put her on the map)has a gentle romance with the boy.Probably sexually frustrated,Lajoie tries to rape Brigitte and kills her.And there's a shanty town for emigrated workers not far from here...The critics generally did not like it ,calling it a caricature:but since we've seen worse in real life.On the other hand, the audience made it a cult movie in France,quite rightly so.The depiction of these average Frenchmen on vacation rings true and Yves Boisset does not fall into the -all of them b...- trap:the "hero"'s son attitude shows the positive side of the human nature.There's also a formidable spoof on these stupid "games" which the television organizes for the vacationers.Jean-Pierre Marielle ,as Leo Tartaffione ,a self-important emcee , is incredibly funny.Maybe the last scene is questionable.But do not let it prevent you from enjoying the rest .Relatively speaking,it's the French "big carnival".