Going Places | |
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Film poster
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Les Valseuses | |
Directed by | Bertrand Blier |
Produced by | Paul Claudon |
Screenplay by | Bertrand Blier Philippe Dumarçay |
Based on | Les Valseuses by Bertrand Blier |
Starring |
Gérard Depardieu Patrick Dewaere Miou-Miou Jeanne Moreau Isabelle Huppert |
Music by | Stéphane Grappelli |
Cinematography | Bruno Nuytten |
Edited by | Kenout Peltier |
Release date
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20 March 1974 |
Running time
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113 minutes |
Country | France |
Language | French |
Box office | $42.9 million |
Going Places is a 1974 French erotic comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Bertrand Blier, and based on his own novel. Its original title is Les Valseuses, which translates into English as "the waltzers", a vulgar French slang term for "the testicles". It stars Miou-Miou, Gérard Depardieu and Patrick Dewaere.
It is widely considered one of the most controversial movies in French cinema history due to its vulgarity, depiction of sexual acts, nudity, and moral ambiguity; however, Blier's later acclaim for the rest of his filmography made it a cult film for modern critics. An English-language remake directed, written by and starring John Turturro, which also acts as a spin-off to the cult comedy film The Big Lebowski, is planned for 2017.
Jean-Claude and Pierrot are young men who travel around France, committing petty crimes and running from the law. After they get in trouble with a hairdresser in Valence for stealing his car, they grab his pistol and kidnap his assistant Marie-Ange, an apathetic girl. When they are bored with unorgasmic Marie-Ange, they decide to find a passionate woman and meet Jeanne Pirolle, a woman in her forties who is just released from prison and had spent ten years in a cell. After a threesome, Jeanne commits suicide and the men return to Marie-Ange. They find Jeanne's son Jacques who had been incarcerated as well. Then, the four consider founding a crime family but at their first crime, an attempted robbery, Jacques commits a revenge killing and the others flee. While on the run, they meet a family having a picnic near Col d'Izoard and the delinquent teenage daughter Jacqueline wants to join them. They take Jacqueline and on learning that she is still a virgin, they decide to deflower her. After dropping Jacqueline, the three ride away aimlessly.