Un drôle de numéro: A dusty, charming little relic

Is this worth your time?

Honestly? Maybe not, unless you’re the type of person who digs through old film archives just to see what people wore in the 1930s. If you hate slow-paced dialogue or movies that feel like a stage play taped to a screen, steer clear. This is for the completists and the folks who find comfort in the fuzziness of ancient, scratchy film stock. 🎞️

The whole thing feels like it was put together on a lunch break. The plot is just a series of people shouting over each other, which I guess was the height of hilarity back then. There’s a moment where Monette Dinay is trying to explain herself, and she just keeps getting interrupted by doors slamming. It happens so many times it stops being a plot point and starts being a rhythmic tick.

It’s not as sharp as The Second 100 Years, which had a bit more punch to its physical comedy. Here, things just sort of… drift. I kept noticing the background extras in one scene, specifically a guy in a hat who clearly has no idea where he’s supposed to be standing. He just stares at the wall for like ten seconds straight. It’s the most interesting part of the film.

The lighting is super flat, like they just left the room's main bulb on and called it a day. But there’s a certain charm to that, I suppose? It makes everything feel like a neighbor’s home movie. 🤷‍♂️

Fernand-René spends half his screen time looking like he’s trying to remember if he left the stove on at home. It’s not exactly a masterclass in acting, but it’s real. It’s human. Sometimes that’s enough.

I found myself thinking about Distilled Love halfway through, wondering why this one feels so much more tired. Maybe it’s the pacing. It drags in the middle, then rushes to the finish line like it’s trying to catch the last train out of town. The ending happens so abruptly you’ll think your player glitched.

• The sound quality is… an experience.
• The hats are magnificent.
• Nobody seems to know how to enter a room quietly.

Would I watch it again? Probably not. Did I enjoy the hour I spent with it? Sure, in that weird, detached way you enjoy watching a rainstorm through a window. It’s not great, it’s not terrible, it’s just there.