Just on the strength of the collaboration between Yves Robert and Jean Rochefort, we decided to take a look at this 1979 French comedy, rarely seen these days. It showed up on a French cable channel a few nights ago. It is a story that packs a lot in its one hundred minutes running time.

The chronic cowardice running in the Belhomme family is chronicled for our benefit. Martin, the present member of the clan, has problems he must deal with if he wants to get rid of the curse he has been carrying all those years. When he meets Eva, the beautiful chanteuse, right during the student riots of 1968, it is love at first sight. Martin decides to follow her to Amsterdam in spite of the danger of losing his life at the hand of Eric, the sly man who is also in love with her.

Martin must also deal with a domestic situation he must sort out before he can even enjoy the bliss he is seeking with Eva. He must renounce to the pharmacy and the family, who conveniently forgot about him. A bigger shock awaits Martin after he gets Eva to agree to marry him. Eva has a secret she had not shared with Martin.

Jean Rochefort, an excellent comedian, was in his element in a film that asks him to deploy his deadpan delivery. Catherine Deveuve was asked to play Eva, the singer, the object of Martin's love. It's hard for Deneuve to show some real emotion, as she does here. There is no chemistry between her and her co-star. Others in supporting roles include Michel Aumont, Philippe Leroy, Michel Beaume and Dominique Levanant. American Robert Webber shows up at the end to liven things up.

Since I first saw it on an obscure BBC channel in the 1980's, I have adored it. From start to finish, it is a hoot, In essence, it works so brilliantly as it portrays all the wishes and desires of the common man. Hen-pecked and trapped in a miserable marriage with a hum-drum job, the aging Middle aged Martin (Jean Rochefort) encounters Eva Silver (Catherine Deneuvre). After driving across country to Amsterdam just to see her, he tries clumsily to ask her out to see the town on his borrowed motorbike. To his amazement, she refuses saying that she is too tired, and would rather sleep with him. And so begins an insane romance that seems almost Douglas Adams in its logic, yet touching in its scenes, most of which are unique cinematic gems in their own right. Despite the sheer genius of its plot, dialogue, characters and performance, it barely survived. I own one of only 12 known surviving copies of the original VHS tapes for which I paid way over a hundred dollars and which I have held in a bank vault for ten years.. Fortunately, recently it was released on Blu-Ray allowing all those who know about it to possess finally a playable copy. If you have a chance to see it, grab it with both hands - you'll never regret it.