L'affaire Coquelet: A weird little movie about garters

Is it worth your time?

Honestly, only if you have a soft spot for weird, dusty French comedies from the thirties. If you need tight pacing or a story that makes actual sense, you’ll probably want to turn this off after about twenty minutes. It’s light, it’s silly, and it feels like a stage play that just happened to have a camera pointed at it.

The whole premise hinges on Monsieur Coquelet—a guy who collects historical garters. Yes, really. It’s one of those character traits that’s supposed to be funny just by existing. I’m not entirely sure it lands, but Marcel Lévesque plays him with such high-strung intensity that you can’t help but watch.

When the garter goes missing, the movie turns into a chaotic scramble. The police get involved, and suddenly everyone is shouting. It’s got that frantic energy you see in a lot of older farces. Sometimes it’s charming. Other times it just feels like everyone is running in circles for no good reason.

Odd moments and observations

• The obsession with the garters is never explained. It just is. I kind of respect that.
• There’s a scene where the police response is so over-the-top that I actually checked to see if I was watching a spoof.
• The thief’s identity is supposed to be the big reveal. Let’s just say it’s not exactly The Ship of Lost Men in terms of suspense.
• Tino Rossi pops up, which is a nice little treat if you know his music, though he seems a bit lost in the shuffle here.

The dialogue moves at a breakneck speed, which I suppose is the point. Still, there are moments where the silence between lines feels heavier than the jokes. It’s like the actors are waiting for a laugh that isn’t coming from the room.

I couldn't help but think about how much more grounded some of the performances feel in other films from that era, like Les aventures du roi Pausole. Here, everything is dialed up to eleven. It’s a bit exhausting.

Is it a masterpiece? No. Is it a fun, weird relic? Sure. Don't go in expecting a deep dive into the human condition. It's just a movie about a man, his missing lingerie, and a whole lot of shouting. Sometimes, that's enough to kill an hour on a rainy afternoon.