Mon oncle d'Amérique
Encyclopedia
1980 in film
- Events :* May 21 - Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is released and is the biggest grosser of the year ....
French film
Cinema of France
The Cinema of France comprises the art of film and creative movies made within the nation of France or by French filmmakers abroad.France is the birthplace of cinema and was responsible for many of its early significant contributions. Several important cinematic movements, including the Nouvelle...
directed by Alain Resnais
Alain Resnais
Alain Resnais is a French film director whose career has extended over more than six decades. After training as a film editor in the mid-1940s, he went on to direct a number of short films which included Nuit et Brouillard , an influential documentary about the Nazi concentration camps.He began...
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Plot
The didactic film is built around the ideas of French physicianPhysician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, writer and philosopher Henri Laborit
Henri Laborit
Henri Laborit was a French physician, writer and philosopher.Laborit was born in Hanoi, Vietnam and started his career as a neurosurgeon in the Marines and then moved on to fundamental research. He won the prestigious Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research in 1957...
, who plays himself in the film. It uses the stories of three people to illustrate Laborit's theories on evolutionary psychology
Evolutionary psychology
Evolutionary psychology is an approach in the social and natural sciences that examines psychological traits such as memory, perception, and language from a modern evolutionary perspective. It seeks to identify which human psychological traits are evolved adaptations, that is, the functional...
regarding the relationship of self and society
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
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René (Gérard Depardieu
Gérard Depardieu
Gérard 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...
) leaves the family farm to become an executive at a French textile firm. Janine (Nicole Garcia
Nicole Garcia
Nicole Garcia is a French actress, film director and writer. Her film Selon Charlie was entered into the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.-Actress:*1968: Des garçons et des filles directed by Étienne Périer...
) leaves her proletarian family behind to become an actress who becomes involved with Jean (Roger Pierre
Roger Pierre
Roger Pierre was a French comedic actor.He often appeared in comedies with Jean-Marc Thibault.Pierre died in his native Paris, aged 86, from cancer.-Career:...
), a well-educated bourgeois writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
/politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
. All three characters face difficult choices in life-changing situations that are designed to illuminate Laborit's ideas.
Cast
- 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...
- Nicole GarciaNicole GarciaNicole Garcia is a French actress, film director and writer. Her film Selon Charlie was entered into the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.-Actress:*1968: Des garçons et des filles directed by Étienne Périer...
- Roger PierreRoger PierreRoger Pierre was a French comedic actor.He often appeared in comedies with Jean-Marc Thibault.Pierre died in his native Paris, aged 86, from cancer.-Career:...
- Nelly BorgeaudNelly BorgeaudNelly Borgeaud was a French film actress. She appeared in 43 films between 1955 and 2001.-Selected filmography:* Black Dossier * Codine * The Man Who Loved Women...
- Pierre ArditiPierre ArditiPierre Arditi was born on 1 December 1944 in Paris, child of the French paintor Georges Arditi , from Marseille, and a Belgian mother. He is an award-winning French film and stage actor...
- Gérard Darrieu
- Philippe Laudenbach
- Marie DuboisMarie DuboisMarie Dubois is a French actress.She made her film debut in 1959, and first gained notice in Shoot the Piano Player...
- Henri LaboritHenri LaboritHenri Laborit was a French physician, writer and philosopher.Laborit was born in Hanoi, Vietnam and started his career as a neurosurgeon in the Marines and then moved on to fundamental research. He won the prestigious Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research in 1957...
Awards
The film won the Grand PrixGrand Prix (Cannes Film Festival)
The Grand Prix is an award of the Cannes Film Festival bestowed by the jury of the festival on one of the competing feature films. It is the second-most prestigious prize of the festival after the Palme d'Or...
and the FIPRESCI
FIPRESCI
The International Federation of Film Critics is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world for "the promotion and development of film culture and for the safeguarding of professional interests." It was founded in June 1930 in...
prizes at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival
1980 Cannes Film Festival
The 33rd Cannes Film Festival was held on May 9-23. The showing of Andrei Tarkovsky's film Stalker is interrupted by an electricians strike.- Jury :*Kirk Douglas *Ken Adam *Robert Benayoun *Veljko Bulajić...
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External links
- Mon Oncle D'Amérique at the New York Times