After World War II, a small French village struggles to put the war behind as the controlling Communist Party tries to flush out Petain loyalists. The local bar owner, a simple man who likes to write poetry, who only wants to be left alone to do his job, becomes a target for Communist harassment as they try and locate a particular loyalist, and he pushes back.
Acting
Depardieu's bloated charisma vs. Blanc's wounded dignity.
Writing
Marcel Aymé's dialogue cuts like a broken bottle.
Director
Claude Berri
Michel Blanc
Gaigneux
Gérard Depardieu
Léopold
Jean-Pierre Marielle
Archambaud
Philippe Noiret
Watrin
Michel Galabru
Monglat
Gérard Desarthe
Maxime Loin
Danièle Lebrun
Mme Archambaud
Fabrice Luchini
Jourdan
Daniel Prévost
Rochard
Myriam Boyer
Mme Gaigneux
Ticky Holgado
Mégrin, l'avocat
Florence Darel
Marie-Anne Archambaud
Josiane Lévêque
Andréa Lajeunesse
Hervé Rey
Pierre
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Based on Marcel Aymé's novel, written during actual post-war purges; Berri filmed in a village where real Resistance executions happened. Locals refused to participate.
The title refers to the planet's 98-degree axial tilt — everything's off-kilter, nothing's upright. Also a dirty pun in French.
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