Jean has been married to Francoise for a long time; he has also been Catherine's lover for six years. He goes to the Camargue region to shoot a film, and brings Catherine with him. His behavior is so callous and violent that she takes refuge at her grandmother's house. They reconcile, break up again, then... It's an autobiographical story by a master filmmaker that won the Best Performance award for Jean Yanne at the Cannes Festival.
Jean's problem is that the more he tries to keep Catherine under his control--by wearing her down, making her doubt her own skills, telling her she's vulgar and stupid--the more he doubts that he really has her under his thumb. He thinks he's left wing, a progressive, one of the good guys, but he's just another anxious macho man. Her matrimonial prospects are better than his, but he just can't figure that out.
Jean Yanne turns in a great performance as a touching boor; he's matched by Marlene Jobert as the girlfriend who finally learns to stand up for herself. Christine Fabrega and Jacques Galland as her parents are excellent--they display more grace under pressure than most of us have to in our lifetimes. Macha Meril as Jean's long-suffering wife does not have many scenes, but is superb. She is romantic and warm-hearted, she doesn't approve of her husband's callous treatment of his mistress, but will stand by him.
