Going Places (1974)

Director: Bertrand Blier
Writer: Bertrand Blier
Starring: Gérard Depardieu, Patrick Dewaere, Miou-Miou, Jeanne Moreau, Brigitte Fossey, Jacques Chailleux

The main protagonists in Bertrand Blier's Going Places are two young troublemakers who live to harass women and provoke a system they are convinced is seriously flawed. Jean-Claude (Gerard Depardieu, Barocco, How Much Do You Love Me?), the wilder and more dominant one, believes that he is a primitive artist whose bizarre ideas are misunderstood masterpieces. Pierrot (Patrick Dewaere, A Bad Son, Beau Pere), the more balanced one, does not always understand or trust his friend's instincts but does not mind following him.

While trying to steal a car, Jean-Claude and Pierrot meet Marie-Ange (Miou-Miou, Memoirs of a French Whore, Le héros de la famille), a young, beautiful and frigid beautician. They immediately click and agree to have a threesome. Despite their best efforts, however, Jean-Claude and Pierrot can't get Marie-Ange to orgasm. Enormously frustrated and convinced that they are not to be blamed for the disappointing experience, they decide to travel to a famous prison for women in order to find an older woman who hasn't made love to a man in a long time.

Soon after, Jean-Claude and Pierrot meet Jeanne (Jeanne Moreau, Elevator to the Gallows, Time to Leave), a sex-starved middle-aged woman who has just been released from prison. They buy her a new coat, a new dress and a pair of stockings. After they have lunch, the three check into an expensive hotel and have sex. Much to Jean-Claude and Pierrot's surprise, however, the woman commits suicide and they are forced to run away.

Feeling guilty, the two friends return to Marie-Ange, who greets them with open arms. A day later, in Jeanne's suitcase they discover a stack of letters from her son, Jacques (Jacques Chailleux, Street of the Crane's Foot), also an ex-convict. When they meet, Jean-Claude lies to him that they are good friends of his mother. Then they invite him to make love to Marie-Ange, who finally has an orgasm.

After Jacques kills a man, Jean-Claude, Pierrot and Marie-Ange part ways with him. They hit the road again and eventually meet a middle-class family having a picnic. They trade cars and get their frustrated teenage daughter (Isabelle Huppert, Comédie de I'innocence ,Ma mere) with them. After she has her first sexual experience, they part ways.

Blier's films almost always play according to a different set of rules. He loves his characters – usually troubled individuals who have a very difficult time fitting in with the rest of society - but in a special way. He isn't afraid to stick a finger in their wounds and even humiliate them, even though he respects the way they live their lives. This attitude isn't liked by some critics and viewers, which is why the French director is often labeled a cynic.

In Going Places the main protagonists are doomed to fail. They are weak and predictable, driven by instincts not intellect. And they realize it, which is why all of the women they have sexual experiences with are submissive – the only time they feel in control is when they make love. When they are not in bed with a lover, the two men are usually chased by someone.

The already too thin line that separates the comedy from the drama in Blier's films is practically invisible in Going Places. Some scenes look enormously funny – for example the one where Moreau's character confesses to the confused restaurant owner why her body does not perform as it once did – but only until one considers how incredibly hopeless the main protagonists' situation is.

The English title of the film is rather misleading. Les valseuses, which is translated as Going Places, actually refers to the main protagonists' testicles, as all of the trouble they go through is because of them.

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