To begin with, unlike the others, I will not talk more about the remakes than about this film. We had decided to watch a film at random. While searching for films from 1977, we saw the poster and saw that Marielle was in it, so the choice was quickly made. When we started, we saw "a film by Berri" and the casting announced the presence of Lola - well no, sorry, it's Soral, the actress! But I am still in shock at the power of Tchao Pantin. So this film, I didn't really feel it... and finally, everything happened as I like: slow action and in-depth characters, a limited number of interactions that allow us to focus on psychology. The action is subtle but very present. The actor Marielle, who I expected to be funny as is very often the case, surprised me a lot with his excellent acting. The young Soral is amazing, so fresh, youthful, full of life and innocence. Even Lanoux, who in other later roles can sometimes seem a bit heavy, has managed to keep a form of reclusion, which allows a psychological force to shine through in his acting. Bravo and thank you for this excellent surprise! A great film, but of course, it is a "film d'auteur" and not a big formatted production, so not everyone will necessarily find what they are looking for.

This is a simple but really fine film; well scripted, sensitively directed by Claude Berri, and in places almost memorably acted. It is warm and to me rings true to life. I saw it as a TV presentation, but once I started viewing it I would have been most reluctant to be dragged away from the screen. The version I saw was dubbed in English - I would have preferred sub-titles but the dubbing was certainly better here than is often the case. Four years after it was released Stanley Donen re-filmed this story in Hollywood with a South American setting ("Blame it on Rio"). His film is 20 minutes longer and is presented as an overlong, straight and rather broad comedy, most of which is basically pretty boring to watch - it provides a classic example of the way in which Hollywood has so often demonstrated it can seldom attain the sensitivity shown by good French films.

I believe this film is still listed as available on tape, but in my view it would certainly warrant release as a DVD.