A poetic film about daily working life that captures the spirit of political change in 1970s France. Two years after Jean-Luc Godard made his film about class struggle in a factory, Tout va bien, Louis Malle completed this fascinating portrait of life for the employees of a Citroën auto factory in Rennes, Brittany. Malle was raised in that area, albeit in an affluent family, but it is his understanding of the people that makes this more than a political portrait about the proletariat. It is a superbly made fly-on-the-wall film that captures the daily lives of the workers and the humdrum activity of their working life. Occasionally, Malle cuts away to wealthy consumers make a political point, but this is ultimately an involving portrait of ordinary lives.
Think you know the Tour de France? Think again. A gruelling challenge for even the best sportspeople, the Tour de France is one of the ultimate tests of endurance. Yet this early documentary by Louis Malle shows a very different Tour. Cyclists stop for cigarette breaks, pick up small bottles of wine from local bars and take in the scenery of the French countryside. Hilarious at times, Vive le tour is a joyful, entertaining account of the Tour when it was one of France’s favourite pastimes and not the arduous, sponsorship-heavy event it is today.
