Vincent, François, Paul et les Autres (Vincent, François, Paul and the Others)

50th anniversary screening in collaboration with the Plein-Air Festival by the French Institute of Greece.

Director: Claude Sautet
Starring: Yves Montand, Michel Piccoli, Serge Reggiani, Gérard Depardieu, Stéphane Audran
Runtime: 118'
Year of Production: 1974
Language: French
Subtitles: Greek

A factory owner on the brink of bankruptcy, a «loser» doctor with wealthy clientele and a writer with no inspiration. Three friends played by Yves Montand, Michel Piccoli and Serge Reggiani, in a mid-life crisis, regarded through the always sympathetic, yet detached, lens of Claude Sautet. This observer of the human condition, with a tricolour contact lens on the anthropology of a French middle class that does not want to grab the trowel, but cannot, even though it may sometimes set its sights on conquering the passivity of the bourgeoisie. An atmospheric film, a film that wins you over the easier you «get into the shoes» of the characters, a film seemingly «masculin» in whose profile, however, far from being exceptional, far from being exclusive, there is room for a scepticism and a sensitivity that give rise to discussions. There is plenty of emotion here, but no petting. There is love and faith in the man who is sick because he is growing old and because this is a sickness whose only remedy is active admission. There is also Sautet's incredible good eye, which at times even seems (humanistically) punitive in the aftermath of choices you should have seen coming – especially in the Montand story. Excellent adult cinema, free of grandiosity and clutter. Ilias Dimopoulos