Joli monde (1936) Review: Loud Music and Shaky Walls

If you love dusty 1930s French comedies where everyone talks way too fast and wears suits that look slightly too big, Joli monde is absolutely worth your time. But if you need modern pacing or plots that actually make sense, you will probably hate this within five minutes. 🤷‍♂️

I found a shaky digital copy of this on a French archive site late last night. Honestly, it was totally worth the headache of tracking it down.

The story is basically about rich people lying to each other in fancy living rooms. It has that chaotic, theatrical energy you find in old silent shorts like Gas and Air, but with a lot more French hand gestures.

The main reason to watch this is Junie Astor. She has this amazing look on her face like she knows the movie is silly, but she is determined to have fun anyway.

The Background Actors Are Doing Too Much

There is this one scene in a crowded cafe where a guy in the background is eating soup. He eats it so aggressively and with so much focus that I completely forgot what the main characters were arguing about.

Meanwhile, Philippe Hersent plays the romantic lead, but he has the charisma of a wet cardboard box. You mostly just want him to step out of the frame so you can look at the weird art deco furniture.

Speaking of the sets, they definitely felt cheap. In one scene, a character slams a door and the entire wall visibly shakes for a couple of seconds.

It is not quite as snappy as something like Let's Get a Divorce. Still, it has a very specific, sleepy charm that kept me hooked.

Turn the Volume Down

My biggest gripe is the music. The brass band soundtrack just blasts over conversations randomly, like someone kept accidentally hitting the volume knob.

There is no grand artistic message here, and that is exactly why I enjoyed it. It is just eighty minutes of people being slightly dishonest to each other in nice clothes.

If you can find a copy with decent subtitles, grab a warm drink and give it a spin on a rainy Sunday afternoon. ☕