L’AVENTURE, C’EST L’AVENTURE (MONEY MONEY MONEY)

France, 1972, 120 minutes, Colour.
Lino Ventura, Jacques Brel, Charles Denner, Johnny Hallyday, Charles Gerard, Nicole Courcel, Yves Robert, Juan Luis Bunuel.
Directed by Claude Lelouch.

Claude Lelouch has made colourful and romantic films for a half a century. His romances are particularly valued, especially the Oscar-winning A Man and a Woman of 1966. However, he was often interested in crime dramas with lush settings. This is one of those films.

Lino Ventura, the veteran Italian actor, gives the same kind of rough-edged performance as he did in most films either as a criminal or as a police investigator. This time he is a thief, along with singer Jacques Brel, who kidnap various people because it is more profitable than stealing money. They steal the singer Johnny Hallyday playing himself (who also sings the title song) and then move to Latin America where they kidnap a diplomat. For political reasons they are let go during their trial – and then move to Africa to continue their profession.

The film is tongue-in-cheek, comic – but not one of Lelouch’s outstanding films.

1. The impact and tone of this title? The French title was Adventure Is Adventure. Was this a better title? More significant? Why? Its relationship to the song during the film?

2. How entertaining a film was this? How French was it? How much did enjoyment depend on appreciation of French styles? How enjoyably farcical was it? Appropriate exaggerations? What audiences would it appeal to? What aspects of audience enjoyment would it appeal to? colour, locations, music, farce, exaggerations. comedy? The satire on money, politics?

3. Comment on the style of the film? the titles and the joke
at the beginning, the flashbacks and the irony of the commentary, the criminals themselves, the X-rated situations and the farcical filming of these etc?

4. What did the film have to say about crime and criminals? Did it take any moral stand? Was it amoral? Did it presuppose moral attitudes in the audience?

5. What did the film have to say about politics and crime? The nature of political crimes? The implications of politics in crimes and in trials? What did the film have to say about greed, crime, politics? The irony of the prostitutes going on strike for liberation? (How humorous was this particular sequence?)

6. What did the film have to say about brains and cunning for crimes? The criminals were not intelligent - yet they succeeded outstandingly. How was this explained? How guilty were they? How innocent?

7. How enjoyable were the men in themselves? Our seeing them at the trial? The farcical introduction to each of them? Especially Aldo and Lino? What interaction did they have amongst themselves? Lino as the leader? Aldo as considered rather stupid? (His dreams of having Lino as his servant?) The way that they were considered? Their triumph in Africa? Their final survival and the final photo?

8. Comment on the presentation of their crimes? their kidnappings, their robberies? How humorously done were these? How enjoyable was it that they should kidnap the pope at the end? Their list of short-term projects?

9. How enjoyable were the results of all this crime? The amount of money amassed? The luxury of the yacht? Their subjection to torture? Their transference of their money? The arranged escape from the French court? The farcical chase in which nobody chased them? The satire on film car chases?

10. How enjoyable were particular sequences - the car chase, the torture, the kidnapping of the Pope? Why were these enjoyable?

11. What insight into criminal behaviour and crime in the world etc? what do such light-hearted satires give?