Vive la Sociale ! (1983)

Avec François Cluzet (Maurice Decques) , Elizabeth Bourgine (Génichka) , Robin Renucci (Pater)

Maurice Decques a été élevé au rythme de l'«Internationale», par son père, serrurier et communiste, par sa mère anarchiste et américaine, et par son frère, socialiste convaincu. A 10 ans, atteint d'asthme, il est envoyé dans un sanatorium, sur l'île de Ré. Admirateur d'Alain Bombard et nostalgique de son XXe arrondissement, il construit un radeau et tente un retour vers le continent. Devenu adulte, après un passage dans la marine, il crée avec des copains une agence d'animation de noces et de banquets. Et rencontre ainsi Génichka, qu'il va épouser…

(In this charming, semi-autobiographical look at his politicized past, director Gerard Mordillat focuses on the ironic, the wistful, and the sometimes ludicrous events that spin off from the communist/anarchist upbringing of his main character, Maurice Decques (François Cluzet). In his adult career as a caterer, Maurice's tendency to swing over to the bourgeoise social gatherings of varying stature is also reflected in the woman he marries – a Czech whose family chose Paris over Moscow "because the USSR has concentration camps" as she told her shocked communist father-in-law. When Maurice is caught in the 1968 student demonstrations in Paris, the officer who hauls him off is soon recognized as an old childhood buddy, and instead of heading to jail, the policeman/friend takes Maurice home. As the police van drives out of view, the two buddies are seen as young kids, sitting on the hood of a car and dreaming about the future. These flashbacks to his childhood occur throughout the film, with Maurice sometimes walking into and out of the scenes, as though there were no gap in time at all.)