Le Drapeau noir flotte sur la marmite (1971)
Directed by Michel Audiard

Film Review

Le Drapeau noir flotte sur la marmite is not the most memorable of the half a dozen or so films that Michel Audiard directed but, equipped with a colourful cast and a totally daft premise, it manages to be an amiable little time waster, Georges Brassens' maritime-themed music being a welcome bonus.  In the twilight of his illustrious career, Jean Gabin has rarely looked more at home in a role than he is here as a cantankerous old sea dog (or rather purported sea dog), partnered by an impossibly well-preserved Ginette Leclerc.  Both of these old pros, along with the rest of the cast, are well-served by Audiard's crisp and witty dialogue (Audiard was always far better as a screenwriter than a director), and the only thing that appears to have gone overboard is a storyline with more in the way of substance.  Admittedly, the film doesn't sink, but it has a devil of a job staying afloat.

The chalk-and-cheese pairing of Gabin with Jacques Marin makes for a surprisingly good double act, hilarious when their do-it-yourself boat finally hits the waves and immediately comes a cropper.  Audiard may not have been the most inspired of film directors but he certainly gets the best out of his cast, particularly his supporting artists Claude Piéplu, Jean Carmet and André Pousse.  Piéplu is on particularly fine form, in the kind of idiotic authority figure role that would become his stock-in-trade.  Le Drapeau noir flotte sur la marmite lacks the caustic humour and anarchic fun of Audiard's other films (Elle boit pas, elle fume pas, elle drague pas, mais... elle cause!, Bons baisers... à lundi), but in its favour it does have a great cast and a fair quota of gags, so it has no trouble helping any resolute landlubber to while away a dull afternoon.  Worse things happen at sea...

Film Synopsis

Railway employee Antoine Simonet is delighted when he wins a prize for his realistic matchstick model of a frigate.  Just as impressed is his boss, Alexandre Volabruque, who promptly commissions him to construct a full-size fishing boat.  Volabruque isn't too many years from his retirement, and it has long been an ambition of his to pass his declining years fishing off the coast of Dieppe.  Antoine is more than willing to oblige, but he soon realises that the task of building a real boat is beyond his abilities.  So, determined not to be defeated, he enlists the help of his uncle, Victor Ploubaz, an old sea captain.

For years, Victor has gone on about his seafaring exploits, and no one seems to be better qualified to guide Antoine in his ambitious undertaking.  So, without delay, Antoine begins building the vessel in his back garden with the help of his SNCF colleagues, guided by Uncle Victor.  Unfortunately, owing to some crossed wires, what Antoine ends up with is a small yacht, not the fishing boat he had envisaged.  There is further trouble in store when the boat is launched and departs for its maiden voyage.  This is the point at which Victor's tales of a life on the ocean wave are revealed to be nothing more than a fabrication...