LE SOUPIRANT (THE SUITOR)
PIERRE ÉTAIX - 1963
 

Le Soupirant

In French with English subtitles.

BANDE ANNONCE of the Pierre Étaix Retrospective (Trailer)

AWARDS

- Prix Louis Delluc 1963
- Prix du Film Comique Moscou 1963
- Grand Prix du Festival International d’Acapulco 1963

REVIEWS

A MASTER OF SCREEN COMEDY!
He is every bit as worthy of praise and study as Tati, yet he is all but unknown today. – Leonard Maltin

ETAIX IS A REVELATION: HILARIOUS, SUBVERSIVE, DEADPAN.
You can see in his work the seeds of everything we've laughed at during the last sixty plus years. – Ken Burns

A BRACING REDISCOVERY! Sparkling, poignant and subversive, Mr. Etaix's films have drawn on the art of silent cinema, the circus and the music hall, while holding up a mirror to the absurdities of life in the modern world.
– Kristin Jones (The Wall Street Journal)

Director: Pierre Étaix

Screenplay: Pierre Étaix & Jean-Claude Carrière

84 min

US Distribution: Criterion

COMEDY

Not Rated (All Audience)

Cast:
Pierre Étaix: Pierre
Laurence Lignères: Laurence
Claude Massot: Father
Lucian Frégis: Painter
Denise Peronne: Mother
Karin Vesely: Ilka

 

Legal disputes with producers kept Pierre Étaix's films out of distribution (including video) for over thirty years. In 2009, a petition signed by 56,000 people (including such admirers as Woody Allen, Jean-Luc Godard, and David Lynch) led to the rescue of his films from legal limbo. They have now been beautifully restored and we are very proud to present one of them!

THE SUITOR, Étaix’s first feature, introduces the droll humor and oddball charm of its writer-director-star. This tribute to Buster Keaton, is about a young man who, under pressure from his parents, sets out to find a woman to marry—though he has a hard time tearing his mind away from the famous singer whose face decorates the walls of his bedroom. THE SUITOR was a smash hit in France and an art-house success all over the world.

A treat!

Shown with Shunpo by Steven Briand.

Saturday, June 22 - 11am & Sunday, June 23 - 6pm
Q&A with Le Professeur Kevin Elstob follows the Saturday screening.