The Bare Necessity (Perdrix)

Here's a film that you're not likely to see reviewed anywhere else (of course, you might have a hard time finding it too...). If you like your comedies absurd and deadpan, but also clever and somehow managing to both existential and light - this is a comedy for you.

It's a story about a man who is stuck in a family rut in which obligations and expectations allow for no change and a woman who is determined to avoid love, with its obligations and expectations. OK - you can see where it's going....

I will describe one of my favourite scenes. The police in a sleepy little town are gathered around a lunch table, all discussing their captain (who is present and the protagonist of the film), trying to make sense of why he is so frustrated (after he had just had a little outburst). He occasionally adds a comment, but they are assuming that he has too little self-awareness to contribute much himself. The policeman who has the most insight is opposite the table from the captain and just happens to be dressed in only his socks (because the "revolutionary nudist" that he had been interviewing refused to speak to a clothed officer), but that is completely ignored in the scene and, after all, he is modestly protected by the table. There is also romance and the hope of liberation. It is very French and very odd. I hope you find it. ***+ and a delightful mug held high.