Claude Melki

A twenty minute documentary about the two smallest French villages. Then, Paris, 1960s. Two girls named Brigitte from the two villages share an apartment and study at the Sorbonne. (imdb)

Six vignettes set in different sections of Paris, by six directors. St. Germain des Pres (Douchet), Gare du Nord (Rouch), Rue St. Denis (Pollet), and Montparnasse et Levallois (Godard) are stories of love, flirtation and prostitution; Place d'Etoile (Rhomer) concerns a haberdasher and his umbrella; and La Muette (Chabrol), a bourgeois family and earplugs. (imdb)

Léon (Claude Melki), a shy employee in municipal baths, loves Fumée, a prostitute of whom he would want to become the exclusive client. An evening, he attends a dance competition. This is a revelation. Léon decides then to follow the example of his friend Ramon (Guy Marchand), who seduces the women thanks to its talents of dancer, and dedicates to the tango. Quickly, he reveals an exceptional gift

Leon is the naíve tailor who believes men are coming to see his trollop sister Marie to have their palms read. Her boyfriend Maxime acts as her pimp. Marie saves Arlette from suicide and the shy Leon falls for the young provincial girl. Arlette is recruited by Maxime, and Leon learns the truth about his sister. He sends away Arlette's potential customers with a variety of ruses and excuses, eventually hoping to win the girl's heart himself.

An apocalyptic vision of man after a cosmic catastrophe, this film is a terrifying metaphor of a dehumanized future. The Brazilian Cinema Novo, German expressionism of the 20s, and the ideologically motivated "cruelty" of a Bunuel come together in this ferocious work of a French theatre collective -- an ambitious, almost completely successful example of visual cinema at its best. (Amos Vogel)

At a wedding ceremony, a shy young man contemplates dancing with various women, but can't seem to work up the nerve. Dancers' glances and movements create a quick pace, in lieu of any dialogue. The young man disguises his face with a bulbous nose, bushy mustache and sunglasses and, soon enough, he's dancing with the bride herself -- but his new-found confidence is quickly dashed when the groom cuts in.

Relying more upon looks, faces, and unease, rather than gags or dialogue, Pollet sets the cool elegance of the club's manager against the decidedly uncool Melki and his sartorial inadequacies. (Village Voice)