Disagreeable but fascinating examination of youth constructed as a buddy-road movie. GOING PLACES revolves around the friendship between Depardieu and Dewaere, a couple of long-haired, disheveled petty thieves in their mid-20s. As the film begins, the duo is terrorizing a middle-aged
woman--grabbing her ample behind, blowing kisses on her neck, and finally stealing her purse. So begins a spree--which, as crime sprees go, is relatively harmless. Along the way, the two steal cars, break into stores, insult people, seduce some semi-willing women, and even have sex with each other
when no one else is available. They seem, however, to have no profound effect on anyone.
After returning a stolen car Dewaere is shot, and superficially wounded in one testicle, by the angry owner. His fear that he'll never have sex again proves groundless, however, when the thieves meet Miou-Miou, a flighty young woman who doesn't mind disrobing for, or having sex with, the
fellows--but who doesn't seem to enjoy it either--which infuriates these two macho men who are convinced they can make any woman melt in their arms.
The first major film from Bertrand Blier (son of actor Bernard), GOING PLACES is an ugly and brutal, yet somehow charming, look at two young men who are wholly worthless as human beings. They have no future; and, despite the fact that they travel from one side of France to the other, they never
get anywhere. They just go--fast and furiously. The most significant moment in their lives is their meeting with Moreau, an older woman just released from prison, who laments her lost youth. She who has nothing is even worse off than Depardieu and Dewaere, who have youth, at least. The alluring
Moreau appears only briefly but gives one of her most spectacular performances. leave a comment