Dir. Gérard Blain, 1974, France, 83min, 35mm, Color
Starring Gérard Blain, Dominique Ravix, Daniel Sarky
In French with English subtitles

This 1973 film by—and starring—French director Gérard Blain follows Paul Boyer, a broke jazz pianist who, driven to support his wife and young son, embarks on a counterfeit money scheme. After being Imprisoned for nine years, he finds that upon release his wife has remarried and won’t let him see his son, who has all but forgotten him. Paul takes desperate measures in an attempt to regain his rights as a father. Blain’s narrative mixes melodramatic and thriller elements with social commentary in the style of an early silent film.

Official Selection, 1974 Berlin International Film Festival

“Though the story is part thriller, part family melodrama, part spiritual journey, part social drama, Blain purges it of all genre artifice: the purity of his method and his sentiments suggests the fresh, primal artistry of the early silent cinema.” –Richard Brody, The New Yorker