Michel Drach had always been a director who never knew what he might do. One of his first efforts "on n'enterre pas le dimanche" (1959) was an offbeat film noir,the hero of which was a black man,which was unusual for the time. Before entering his most fruitful period ("Elise ou la vraie vie" "les violons du bal" and the much debated "le pullover rouge " about the last man who was guillotined in France and who was considered innocent in the film:opinions differ )
) he tried his hand at thrillers and he made "safari diamants" with his then wife Marie-José Nat and Jean -Louis Trintignant. Both actors were featured in "la bonne occase " and would be used again in the much superior "les violons du bal".
"La bonne occase" ( the good used car" ) being a film made out of sketches, a genre which Duvivier lent credibility to and which had become a la mode again in the early sixties in France,Nat ,then director's wife and Trintignant did not share any scene together .
Probably inspired by Dhéry's "la belle américaine"(1961) , "la bonne occase" is not as funny and as entertaining ;lauded far beyond its station,considering the imdb relatively high rating , it's patchy, uneven and the sketches don't hang together well;there are plenty of stars ,like in Dhéry 's comedy and it has its moments : the Poiret /Serraut segment ,then a team ,is the most successful ,treating a robbery as surgeons and pretending to be mechanics ; another good moment shows Jean-Pierre Marielle ,as a driving instructor, turning his pupil's lesson ( Jacqueline Maillan)into something erotic .The movie comes full circle when the countess (Edwige Feuillère ) reappears in a putdown of amateur art snobbery.
"La bonne occase" ( the good used car" ) being a film made out of sketches, a genre which Duvivier lent credibility to and which had become a la mode again in the early sixties in France,Nat ,then director's wife and Trintignant did not share any scene together .
Probably inspired by Dhéry's "la belle américaine"(1961) , "la bonne occase" is not as funny and as entertaining ;lauded far beyond its station,considering the imdb relatively high rating , it's patchy, uneven and the sketches don't hang together well;there are plenty of stars ,like in Dhéry 's comedy and it has its moments : the Poiret /Serraut segment ,then a team ,is the most successful ,treating a robbery as surgeons and pretending to be mechanics ; another good moment shows Jean-Pierre Marielle ,as a driving instructor, turning his pupil's lesson ( Jacqueline Maillan)into something erotic .The movie comes full circle when the countess (Edwige Feuillère ) reappears in a putdown of amateur art snobbery.
