Merci la vie
Encyclopedia
Merci la vie is a 1991 French film written and directed by Bertrand Blier
. It won the César Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
, and was nominated for Best Film, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Writing and Best Editing.
The story involves flashbacks, and in one sequence we learn that Camille's parents are feuding. Illogically, she tries to persuade them to reunite long enough for her conception to take place. The surreal plot and series of stylized scenes is in-keeping with postmodern cinema, which challenges the notion of original creative thought.
Bertrand Blier
Bertrand Blier is a French screenwriter and film director.Born in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. He is the son of Bernard Blier....
. It won the César Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
César Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
List of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Supporting Actor .-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-References:...
, and was nominated for Best Film, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Writing and Best Editing.
Plot
Naive schoolgirl Camille Pelleveau meets the slightly older and more experienced Joëlle, a promiscuous woman who has just been thrown out of a car by her abusive boyfriend. Camille follows Joëlle as they go on a rampage where she discovers sex as they pick up men. Joëlle also shows Camille the darker side of life, as they start by crashing the men's cars and then decide to take on the whole town. However, medical researcher Dr. Marc Antoine Worms has invented a sexually transmitted disease and used Joëlle as a guinea pig by infecting her with it, so that he could become famous as the discoverer of its cure. Camille eventually learns about AIDS and fears she may have contracted the disease.The story involves flashbacks, and in one sequence we learn that Camille's parents are feuding. Illogically, she tries to persuade them to reunite long enough for her conception to take place. The surreal plot and series of stylized scenes is in-keeping with postmodern cinema, which challenges the notion of original creative thought.
Cast
- Charlotte GainsbourgCharlotte GainsbourgCharlotte Lucy Gainsbourg is an Anglo-French actress and singer. After releasing an album with her father at the age of fifteen, more than twenty years passed before she released two albums as an adult to commercial and critical success...
as Camille Pelleveau - Anouk Grinberg as Joëlle
- Michel BlancMichel BlancMichel Blanc is a French actor and director who is noted for his roles of losers and hypochondriacs...
as Raymond Pelleveau (Young Father) - Jean CarmetJean CarmetJean Carmet, born July 25, 1920 in Bourgueil, Indre-et-Loire, France; died April 20, 1994 in Sèvres, Hauts-de-Seine, was a French actor.-Biography:...
as Raymond Pelleveau (Old Father) - Annie GirardotAnnie GirardotAnnie Girardot was a French actress.She began performing in 1955, making her film debut in Treize à table. Girardot won the Prix Suzanne Bianchetti in 1956, and in 1977 won the César Award for Best Actress portraying the title character in Docteur Françoise Gailland...
as Evangéline Pelleveau (Old Mother) - Jean-Louis TrintignantJean-Louis TrintignantJean-Louis Trintignant is a French actor who has enjoyed an international acclaim. He won the Best Actor Award at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival.-Career:...
as SS Officer - Catherine JacobCatherine Jacob (actress)Catherine Jacob is a French actress. She won the César Award for Most Promising Actress for her role in Life Is a Long Quiet River , and has been nominated for Best Supporting Actress in Tatie Danielle , Merci la vie and Neuf mois...
as Evangéline Pelleveau (Young Mother) - Gérard DepardieuGérard DepardieuGérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu is a French actor and filmmaker. He is a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, Chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite and has twice won the César Award for Best Actor...
as Doctor Marc Antoine Worms - Thierry FrémontThierry FrémontThierry Frémont is a French actor. He has appeared in over 65 films and television shows since 1984. He starred in the 1991 film Fortune Express, which was entered into the 41st Berlin International Film Festival.-Selected filmography:...
as François - François Perrot as Maurice, the Film Director
- Yves Rénier as Robert, the guard
- Didier Bénureau as 2nd Film Director
- Anouk FerjacAnouk FerjacAnouk Ferjac is a French actress. She has appeared in 100 films and television shows between 1946 and 2000.-Selected filmography:* Justice Is Done * La Traversée de Paris * Live for Life...
as Mother in clinic - Philippe Clévenot as Producer
- Jacques BoudetJacques BoudetJacques Boudet is a French stage and screen actor. He had great success in the 1980s with his appearance in Exercises in Style, and is featured in the film The Names of Love ....
as Craven, the Depositer