À Propos de Nice is basically a 1930s roast of rich tourists

Is it worth the 25 minutes?

Honestly, yeah. Especially if you like people-watching or seeing how weird life looked nearly a hundred years ago.

If you need a plot with a hero and a villain, you are going to hate this. It is just a bunch of clips stitched together, but it feels like someone is whispering jokes in your ear the whole time.

It starts out looking like a normal travel movie. You see the planes, the boats, and the big fancy hotels.

But then Boris Kaufman (the guy behind the camera) starts getting sneaky. You can tell they hid the camera because people are just... existing.

There is this one shot of a woman sitting at a cafe. The camera just lingers on her face until it feels almost rude.

You see these old men in suits playing games in the dirt. They look so serious about it, which makes it kind of funny.

Then the movie starts doing these fast cuts. One second you see a lady in a fancy dress, and the next second it’s a shot of a giant crocodile.

I don’t really know why the crocodile is there. Maybe it’s a metaphor for the rich people eating everything? Maybe Vigo just thought it looked cool.

The tanning scenes are the best part. People are just sprawled out on the rocks like seals.

It’s not exactly a romantic look at France like The Romance of Seville. It’s way more cynical than that.

Vigo likes to show us the stuff the tourism board probably wanted to hide. We see the narrow, dark alleys where the poor people live.

The transition from the bright, sunny beach to the trash in the gutters is really sudden. It makes you feel a bit guilty for enjoying the pretty views at the start.

There is a lot of focus on feet. I noticed that a lot. Shoes, bare feet, dancing feet... the camera is always looking down at the ground for some reason.

Maybe it’s because the ground is where the reality is. Or maybe they just had a thing for footwear.

The carnival scenes at the end are loud, even though the movie is silent. You can practically hear the brass bands and the screaming.

The giant papier-mâché heads are actually terrifying. They have these huge, bulging eyes and frozen grins that look like something out of a horror flick.

It reminded me a bit of the intensity in Eternal Love, but without the big dramatic acting. It’s just raw energy.

One moment that really stuck with me was the woman who keeps changing her clothes. Through the magic of editing, her outfit just keeps swapping out while she sits there.

It feels like a magic trick. It’s one of those bits where you realize they were having fun making this, even if it’s a bit mean-spirited.

The cemetery shots are also pretty bleak. All those statues of crying angels right next to the shots of people partying.

It’s not as heavy as something like Wife or Country, but it gets its point across. Life is short, and most of us spend it looking ridiculous in the sun.

The cinematograpy is a bit shaky in spots. You can tell they were moving fast, probably trying not to get caught by the police or the angry rich folks.

It’s definitely more interesting than a standard old drama like No Other Woman. It feels alive.

By the time it ends with the factory chimneys, you feel like you’ve actually been somewhere. Not the Nice on a postcard, but the real one.

It’s a bit of a messy film. But I like the mess.

• The weird stop-motion with the dolls at the beginning is creepy.
• Watch for the guy getting his shoes shined; he looks so bored.
• The editing is way ahead of its time.

If you’ve got a short attention span, this is perfect. It’s over before you can get bored, but the images stay stuck in your head for a while after.

Just don't expect a happy ending. Or any ending, really. It just sort of... stops.