''Evening Dress'' (, also known as ''Ménage'') is a 1986 French comedy-drama film directed by

Bertrand Blier Bertrand Blier (; 14 March 1939 – 20 January 2025) was a French film director and writer. His 1978 film '' Get Out Your Handkerchiefs'' won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 51st Academy Awards. Career His 1996 film '' ...

. It was entered into the 1986 Cannes Film Festival where

Michel Blanc Michel Blanc (16 April 1952 – 3 October 2024) was a French actor, writer and director. He is noted for his roles of losers and hypochondriacs. He is frequently associated with Le Splendid, which he co-founded, along with Thierry Lhermitte, ...

won the award for Best Actor.

Background

The idea for ''Tenue de soirée'' came to Blier around the time of '' Les Valseuses'', and his intention then was to cast Depardieu with his co-star from the earlier film,

Patrick Dewaere Patrick Dewaere (26 January 1947 – 16 July 1982) was a French film actor. Born in Saint-Brieuc, Côtes-d'Armor, he was the son of French actress Mado Maurin. An actor from a young age, his career lasted more than 21 years until his suicide in ...

. In the 1980s Blier created the screenplay and shared it with Depardieu, with the other male lead now intended for

Bernard Giraudeau Bernard René Giraudeau (18 June 1947 – 17 July 2010) was a French sailor, actor, film director, scriptwriter, producer and writer. Early life He was born on 18 June 1947 in La Rochelle, Charente-Maritime. In 1963 he enlisted in the French na ...

, but he was in turn replaced by Michel Blanc.Roud, Richard. Cannes '86. ''

Sight and Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (formerly written ''Sight & Sound'') is a monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). Since 1952, it has conducted the well-known decennial ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time. ...

'', Summer 1986, p162-163. After '' Les Valseuses'' and '' Préparez vos mouchoirs'' the Depardieu-Blanc couple in this film allows Blier to examine further aspects of male relationships, mainly in terms of dominant/dominated. Although Blier had wanted to repeat the central trio of ''Valseuses'' (Depardieu, Dewaere, Miou-Miou), the suicide of Dewaere in 1982 had put paid to his plans. The film marked a turning point in the screen career for Blanc. In 1985 he was approached by Blier with the offer of a role in his next project, but after Giraudeau withdrew gave him one of the leads. The film also meant that Blanc lost his familiar moustache by the end of the film. A British reviewer noted "this is a film about love, and the less likely the object, the stronger the film". He commended the "superb" dialogue and the choice of actors. The cast and crew, while thrilled with the humour of the rushes they saw, were fearful of the public reaction, particularly to the homosexual element. However, an enthusiastic article in Gai pied, entitled "Touche pas à la femme Blanc" sealed the realisation that no mockery was intended.Michel Blanc : "Avec L'Exercice de l'Etat, Tenue de soirée tient une place à part dans ma carrière" 3 March 2023 by Thierry Cheze
accessed 2 March 2024. Blier positioned the film within a category of his output which he called "La direction de base, c’est celle de la truculence, du récit picaresque" ("The basic direction is that of a larger-than-life,

picaresque The picaresque novel (Spanish: ''picaresca'', from ''pícaro'', for ' rogue' or 'rascal') is a genre of prose fiction. It depicts the adventures of a roguish but appealing hero, usually of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corrupt ...

narrative"). He noted that the characters were marked by aggression "ils s’engueulent, sont mécontents, presque toujours du mauvais côté de la rue" ("they argue, are unhappy, almost always on the wrong side of the track"). An original soundtrack album from the film featuring the music of Gainsbourg was issued on LP and cassette by Apache records in 1986.

Plot

In a dance hall, an ebullient ex-convict named Bob befriends an impecunious young couple in the middle of a row, the shrewish Monique and the passive Antoine. He showers them with money and takes them on several burgling escapades in salubrious houses. In one, while he and Antoine ransack the place for money, Monique, delighted with new-found luxury, has a bath and helps herself to clothes and scents. Antoine is nervous about it all and especially the advances of Bob. They manage to evade capture even when the homeowners are present or return while the three are around. But it becomes apparent that it is Antoine to whom Bob is attracted, while Monique is an also ran. She, hoping to stay in the new-found comfort, nonetheless nudges Antoine towards Bob. The relationship between the two men develops in unexpected directions.

Cast

as Antoine *

Gérard Depardieu Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu (, , ; born 27 December 1948) is a French actor. An icon of French cinema, considered a world star in the same way as Alain Delon or Brigitte Bardot, he has completed over 250 films since 1967, most of which as ...

as Bob *

Miou-Miou Sylvette Herry (born 22 February 1950), known professionally as Miou-Miou (), is a French actress. A ten-time César Award nominee, she won the César Award for Best Actress for the 1979 film ''Memoirs of a French Whore''. Her other films inclu ...

as Monique * Michel Creton as Pedro *

Jean-Pierre Marielle Jean-Pierre Marielle (12 April 1932 – 24 April 2019) was a French actor. He appeared in more than a hundred films in which he played very diverse roles, from a banal citizen (''Les Galettes de Pont-Aven''), to a World War II hero (''Les Milles ...

as the wealthy and depressive man * Jean-Yves Berteloot as the male prostitute *

Bruno Cremer Bruno Jean Marie Cremer (6 October 1929 – 7 August 2010) was a French actor best known for portraying Jules Maigret on French television, from 1991 to 2005. Origins Bruno Cremer was born in Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne, in the eastern suburb ...

as the art lover *

Mylène Demongeot Mylène Demongeot (; born Marie-Hélène Demongeot ; 29 September 1935 – 1 December 2022) was a French film, television and theatre actress and author with a career spanning seven decades and more than 100 credits in French language, French, ...

as the woman of the couple in bed * Jean-François Stevenin as the man of the couple in bed *

Dominique Besnehard Dominique Besnehard (; born 5 February 1954) is a French actor, film producer, casting director, writer and talent manager. He has appeared in more than 80 films and television shows since 1975. He starred in the 1983 film '' À nos amours'', wh ...

as Bob's friend *

Bernard Farcy Bernard Farcy (; born 17 March 1949) is a French actor who has starred in over 70 plays, television series and films. He is best known for his role as Commissaire Gérard Gibert in Luc Besson's action-comedy franchise ''Taxi'', as well as his app ...

as Bob's friend

Reception

''Tenue de soirée'' achieved ticket sales of 3,144,799 in French cinemas, of which 823,433 were in Paris where it stayed as most popular attraction at the box office for two weeks. The film was one of the greatest successes of Bertrand Blier after '' Les Valseuses'' of 1974 (which made 5,726,031 tickets sold)..

Accolades

References

External links

* * * {{Bertrand Blier 1986 films 1986 comedy-drama films 1980s French-language films Films directed by Bertrand Blier French LGBTQ-related films Films about prostitution in France Films scored by Serge Gainsbourg French comedy-drama films LGBTQ-related comedy-drama films 1980s French films 1986 LGBTQ-related films