Two men are 'on the run' for women. A gynecologist and a pimp have an incredible urge to live in a country without women.
As for the films of director Bertrand Blier, many are praised, but this one not so much. It is understandable why. It starts quite slow and seems a little bit too straightforward for Blier's standards. Les Valseuses (made only a year prior to this film), Buffet froid and Preparez vos mouchoirs tackle the theme less predictable.
But, as others pointed out as well, this film should be placed within its time frame, the 70's, an era in which women were becoming quickly much more independent. I can even remember as a young kid seeing the graffiti 'Wicca' painted everywhere in the my city. And Blier quite captured it, as if he wanted to make a TIME CAPSULE about this subject. He plays with the insecurity of men via the characters of Paul and Albert. They don't hate women, they are just scared of their (sexual) aggressiveness. In this case even in the shape of the most masculine symbol of all
a tank.
I quite loved it anyway. We might have not the Blier-show we are used to but there's still a lot of great cinema to watch, like when Paul consoles Albert when having a nightmare about women; the opening sequence (Paul eating pate when a women spreads her legs and waits impatiently); the scene in which they warn a boy about women. And of course the unforgettable final episode of the film, which will have sparked many discussions in 1976.
While you might have second thoughts about its theme, you should approve the cinematography of the film. Done by Claude Renoir, nephew of the great director Jean Renoir (and thereby grandson of the famous painter). His aid are fantastic actors and great music. While Jean Rochefort is almost always wonderful, in this case, the best performance comes from Jean-Pierre Marielle, whose talent unfortunately is often misused in mediocre films.
