Quelques messieurs trop tranquilles (1973)
Directed by Georges Lautner

Film Review

The age of flower power had come and gone by the time director Georges Lautner came to offer his own tongue-in-cheek tribute to the hippy movement.  Admittedly this is largely just a plot device, half-heartedly stapled onto the kind of thriller parody which the director specialised in around this time, but there is some effective satire on show - not just in the scurrilous send-up of hippy culture, but also in the parochial attitudes of French people buried deep in the countryside.  The gags are pretty predictable but make for some good-natured entertainment.  Based on the novel La Nuit des grands chiens malades by A.D.G., the film was co-authored by Jean-Marie Poiré, who would later helm some of France's most enduing film comedies, including Papy fait de la résistance (1983) and Les Visiteurs (1993).

By this stage in his career, Lautner was ready to move on from the comedy-thriller genre that had dominated his work up until this point.  It was his shameless parodies of French policiers that first brought him success in the 1960s - films such as Les Tontons flingueurs (1963) and Ne nous fâchons pas (1966).  But by the mid-1970s, the genre was pretty well mined out and audiences were preferring their thrillers to be of the more hard-boiled variety, with plenty of in-your-face violence and machismo (of the Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo kind).  Lautner made the transition with some degree of success, turning out grittier crowdpleasers like Mort d'un pourri (1977) and Le Professional (1981), but comedy was what he was best at, and this is how he came to direct the disastrous La Cage aux folles 3 (1985) towards the end of his flagging career.

Quelques messieurs trop tranquilles, along with Lautner's next film, La Valise (1973), feels like a last gasp for a dying genre.  Despite its impressive cast - replete with Lautner regulars like Robert Dalban, Jean Lefebvre and (of course) Renée Saint-Cyr, his mum - the film doesn't quite have the appeal of the director's earlier comedies.  Jean-Pierre Mocky would perhaps have been better placed to direct the film, bringing to the piece some of the mischievous dark humour of his 1992 comedy Ville à vendre.  One of the few bright spots the film has to offer is the delectable Miou-Miou, making an early appearance before she was propelled to stardom by Bertrand Blier's anarchic comedy Les Valseuses (1974).

Film Synopsis

Situated in the Lot department of southwest France, Loubressac is an idyllic spot to live.  You'd think this would be a haven for those seeking the peace and quiet of the countryside, but no.  This picturesque little village has been in decline for years and its inhabitants are prepared to do anything to attract tourists to their community.  One day, they get more than they bargained for when a load of hippies turn up and start making a nuisance of themselves.  They take up residence on land belonging to a countess, who resides in a nearby chateau and sees nothing wrong in the unexpected invasion.  But when a man is found dead - apparently murdered - the villagers become anxious and are quick to blame the new arrivals.  Not everyone reckons that the hippies are guilty, however.  Four of the locals are convinced of their innocence and set out to prove this by uncovering the real culprit...