Rien Ne Va Plus

Star Review

Claude Chabrol racked up his 50th feature with this mischievous comedy thriller which is slyly slick and endlessly amusing. As ever, a twist of Hitchcock flavours proceedings, as con partners Isabelle Huppert and Michel Serrault roam the convention circuit in a camper van. However, from the moment Huppert involves them in treasurer François Cluzet's plan to swindle his multinational boss Jean-François Balmer out of 5 million Swiss francs, we're never quite sure who's scamming who and in what combinations. Ultimately, the charade isn't as complex as the ones in House of Games or Nine Queens, but the byplay between Huppert and Serrault is delectable and some of the set-pieces are classic Hitch-Chabrol, most notably the sequence at the dance recital.
Some of the digs at Switzerland's sobriety are very droll, too (perhaps fuelled by the fact that the onetime enfant terrible of the nouvelle vague, Jean-Luc Godard, had become a Swiss citizen). Huppert neatly plays against her trademark impassivity throughout, but it's the twinkling Serrault who steals the show by embodying the director's own glancing legerdemain. A delight.

David Parkinson on 1st March 2006

View all 92 of David Parkinson’s reviews

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Film Description

A couple of small time con artists travel around France, living off their swindles. When they become caught up in an international money laundering scam the situation becomes a little more complex. Elegant, playful and irreverent and filled with the trademark touches of a master filmmaker.

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Fun! What's the problem?

Most comments on this confection of a film are so impatient and ill-tempered, I just had to write! This is light comedy for grown-ups... more >

Fun! What's the problem?

Most comments on this confection of a film are so impatient and ill-tempered, I just had to write! This is light comedy for grown-ups and provides a perfectly delightful interlude. What's wrong with intelligent light entertainment? For goodness' sake, it's a bit of fun!

Perhaps the problem is that 'fun' today too often equates with the industrial pleasures of the theme-park. And the children, who like their fun noisy and physical, never can appreciate the pleasures of adults. Where there is civilized conversation, the kiddies only see a lot of boring grown-ups doing boring grown-up things.

This Peter Pan syndrome afflicts increasing numbers of the population. And it's not charming - it's downright worrying. One would almost think the influential arbiters of culture actually intended to arrest the development of the individual at this level of immaturity. But that, of course, would be a supposition beyond the scope of these Web pages to entertain.

My main purpose in writing was to encourage those with more developed tastes to see this picture. It is witty, attractive, amusing and utterly delightful - just like the two leads in their many and varied roles!


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View all 2 of Philip Davies’s reviews

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DVD Extras

• Selected scene commentary from Claude Chabrol.

Film Details

Cast

Isabelle Huppert, Michel Serrault

Technical Details