For a long time not found, this unknown film of the director of the crisis and three men and a basket is available for free on Arte

What is it talking about?

The hectic life of a three -house household in a suburban pavilion which arouses the curiosity of those around them including that of a police inspector.

Originally released on December 21, 1977, this rarity has just arrived on the Arte platform (Available here). His title? Why not !. Published once on DVD within a Coline Serreau box, exhausted for years, and finally came out in the cinema at the end of 2022, why not! had become not found. And it must be admitted, the existence of this film is little known.

Discover the Coline Serreau film cycle visible on the Arte platform

A low notoriety for this film which has something to surprise on a double -title: it is directed by Coline Serreau, one of the French filmmakers having had the most success in the 80s – 90, with two huge cards: three men and a bridge (more than 10 million admissions*, in 1985!) And the crisis with Vincent Lindon and Patrick Timsit (more than 2 million entries*, in 1992). The year of its release, three men and a basket had been the biggest success in theaters of the year, ahead of Rambo 2, the specialists and return to the future.

A subject rarely addressed in French cinema

The originality of the subject of this film should also have made this film better known today. The film talks about a three -way household, or a hole, made up of two men (Sami Frey and Mario Gonzales) and a woman (Christine Murillo). The film addresses the subject of homosexuality and bisexuality, which was still very rare in French cinema in the 1970s. The film was released a year before the Cage aux Folles, which deals with the question on the mode of Boulevard comedy.

In 2014, for the release of a documentary, Allociné had just questioned his director Coline Serreau on the invisibility of some of her films (Editor's note. Some have been reissued since), and in particular this film, why not! Here is what she had answered us.

A journalist violently attacked the film when he was released

“”Why not!, No one wanted it. No one wanted to finance it. So I made the documentary “What do they want” (Editor's note. also very difficult to find today) to be able to finance it. “And to add:”Why not!, It was the first film on homosexuality, it was in 76. When I think of the resistance still now … The resistance to marriage for all, all that is still crazy! In 76, it had made a scandal! “

As this article of Three colorsthe life of the film why not! was not a long quiet river, of its funding therefore, when it was released, then its visibility over the years. In question? His subject deemed subversive, despite the modesty that emerges from the film. “”We are satisfied with the tender collective hugs, filmed with modesty, between Louis the musician, Fernand the house man and Alexa, responsible for working outside to bring money. This does not prevent a journalist from violently attacking the film at a press conference, judging him “pornographic”.

A film complicated to finance

Later, he will explain in sobs to Coline Serreau having felt obliged to oppose the film in front of his colleagues so as not to be suspected of endorse this love situation which was also his. The film receives numerous prizes and has a good public welcome (…). But television of the time, which did not leave the yoke of ORTF in 1975, does not yet seem ready to leave this joyful and subversive utopia penetrate the homes. FR3, who had agreed to finance part of the film, retracts when it comes to a question of homosexuality.“”

As the Ciné Club site specifies The 7th genrethanks to which why not! could be put forward in spring 2022, it is “An atypical love story with its plural desires and ambivalence, without moral lesson, or displayed militancy, which bathes in a libertarian utopia“.

Note that why not! was released in DVD / Blu-ray, edited by the smoking cat.

* Source: CBO Box Office