My uncle from America

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Movie
German title My uncle from America
Original title Mon oncle d'Amérique
Country of production France
original language French
Publishing year 1980
length 126 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Alain Resnais
script Jean Gruault
Henri Laborit
production Philippe Dussart
music Arié Dzierlatka
camera Sacha Vierny
cut Albert Jurgenson
occupation

My Uncle from America is a French feature film directed by Alain Resnais in 1980.

action

Jean Le Gall was born on an island, has a crush on Danielle Darrieux and leaves his childhood sweetheart Arlette because he would rather make a career in Paris . Arlette follows him and they both get married in Paris and have two children. Jean initially worked as a teacher and eventually made a career in radio, where he was promoted to program director. Janine Garnier grew up as a child of communist parents, became politically active at an early age and, to the horror of her parents, became an actress. Her great role model is Jean Marais . René Ragueneau was raised Catholic and grew up on a farm. This is farmed old-fashioned by the father, but the brothers cannot prevail against the father with their modernization ideas. Against the wishes of his parents, René leaves the farm with his girlfriend Thérèse and settles in Cholet . He, who adores Jean Gabin , works his way up to become the technical director of a textile factory. However, this has missed the connection with modern developments. A comparison with the technical director of a competing company, Léon Veestrate, makes this clear to René. Both companies are to merge. The pressure of competition hits René on the stomach, he reacts uncontrollably in the family, but also discouraged. When he was appointed general manager of the Zambeaux company in Paris, he suspected that he would be fired.

After the last performance of her successful piece, Janine meets Jean and his wife. After a short time, Jean separates from Arlette and moves in with Janine. He wants to write a book about the development of the sun and puts a new program on his radio broadcasts that the minister likes. Shortly afterwards, Jean is released. He collapses with kidney problems, has to see a doctor more and more often and puts Janine on the last nerve with his care needs. She suffers a lot from it, but does not leave him. One day Arlette stands in front of her. She pretends to be terminally ill and asks that Jean come back to her for a few months. Janine leaves Jean when he opposes her attempts to return to the theater. René, on the other hand, is told in Paris that he will not be the technical director of the merged company, instead of which he could become director of a side production line with ready-to-wear collections . For that he would have to go back to Cholet. He decides, against his pregnant wife's will, to take the chance, and he settles alone in Cholet. In doing so, he also turns against the “uncle from America”, who is repeatedly mentioned as an example in family histories, who died as a beggar.

Two years later, in 1979: Jean goes to the island where he was born and where his grandfather lived. Surprisingly, he meets Janine there. She is now a designer for the company run by Zambeaux, in which René also works. Meanwhile, Jean has gone into politics. He shows her a place where he used to read as a child. His "uncle from America" ​​circulated in family stories as a rich man and as a child he always believed that he had buried a treasure on the island. Janine learns from him that his wife was never sick. She finally wants to tell him why she once left him; but he accuses her that it was due to his unemployment. She is speechless with horror and wants to die. She begins two letters to Jean but cannot finish them. Instead, she goes to a working lunch with Zambeaux and René. She and Zambeau make it clear to René that he is working inefficiently and cannot foresee any trends. He is supposed to be demoted to the company's technical director, whereupon he leaves her furiously. Shortly thereafter, however, he returns and learns that he could possibly work as a gastronomy expert in one of Zambeaux's delicatessen shops; he declines the offer. Janine tells Zambeaux that she always thought that happiness would just be there one day, like an inheritance from an uncle in America. She spends the night with Zambeaux, but calls René in the evening because she is ashamed of her behavior towards him. Meanwhile, René has taken pills and tried to hang himself. He can be reanimated in the hospital. Zambeaux insists on firing René, and Janine is flabbergasted. She visits Jean, but only meets his wife. She tells her that she does not regret her lie from then. She is sure that Janine Jean can no longer be dangerous. He actually learned the whole truth from his wife the day before and forgave her. He owes his success only to her hold. That's how he managed to write his book. Janine beats him desperately. René, in turn, gets hold of the bedside. His wife and children are sitting by his side when he wakes up.

background

Henri Laborit, whose theses are taken up in the film

My uncle from America was realized in feature film and documentary scenes that are intertwined. Professor Henri Laborit uses three CVs to explain the latest findings from modern research on human behavior, which is regulated by four elements: consumption, reward, punishment and inhibition of action ("l'inhibition de l'action"), some of which are social is trained. The central motif of all interpersonal relationships is the dominant behavior of the human being, which arises from the interaction of the pro-reptilian and paleomammal brain and which the human being can recognize and regulate through the neomammalian brain - more or less successfully. Laborit takes up Paul D. MacLean's theory of the Triune Brain .

Following the theory presentation, the scenes in the lives of Jean, Janine and René develop accordingly. For example, scenes show experiments with rats: rats are placed in a two-part cage. The bottom of one half can be given an electric shock, which is announced by a sound. Rats escape to the safe side after a short time. If the individual rat is unable to escape, it will develop stress. She can completely break it down when she has a second rat in the cage. The fight of both rats, even if it is pointless, helps deal with stress. In the film, for example, the scene is represented by Janine and René's reaction to devastating news. Janine spends the night with Zambeaux, while René, alone in his apartment, tries to commit suicide.

In addition to documentary scenes, film excerpts with Danielle Darrieux, Jean Marais and Jean Gabin are woven into the plot, which make the characters' feelings or emotions clear. Urs Jenny called the film in Der Spiegel “the epitome of a cinematic motif puzzle that only comes together in the mind of the viewer to form a plausible whole”.

production

The shooting for My Uncle from America took place in 1979 in Paris , Cholet and on the Île Logoden in the Morbihan department . Catherine Leterrier created the costumes and Jacques Saulnier designed the film . The film premiered on May 21, 1980 at the Cannes International Film Festival . It was shown in German cinemas on September 18, 1981. The ARD showed the film on November 19, 1982 for the first time on German television.

criticism

For film-dienst , My Uncle from America was a "prime example of dialectical film that conveys a wealth of food for thought and, despite all its complexity, is not complicated, but exciting and entertaining." "People in a director's laboratory," summarized Cinema and wrote that the film "reflects the state of behavioral research at the time with an ironic wink". For Der Spiegel , My Uncle from America was “a transparent theater of symbols; a passionately trivial cinema piece [...] that, in its daring mix, results in such a cheerful and thoughtful viewing pleasure, is due to the virtuosity of the picture player who instigated it. "

Awards

At the 1980 Cannes International Film Festival, My Uncle from America was competing for the Palme d'Or . Alain Resnais won the Grand Jury Prize and the FIPRESCI Prize in Cannes . In the same year the film won the Grand Prix du cinéma français and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for best foreign language film . Alain Resnais received the AGIS Award at the 1980 Venice International Film Festival .

My uncle from America was nominated in 1981 for an Oscar in the category Best Original Screenplay and for six Césars : in the categories Best Film (Alain Resnais), Best Director (Alain Resnais), Best Actress (Nicole Garcia), Best Cinematography (Sacha Vierny), Best Screenplay (Jean Gruault) and Best Production Design (Jacques Saulnier). In 1981 he won the Prix ​​du Syndicat Français de la Critique for Best French Film . In 1981 Jean Gruaut received a David di Donatello in the Migliore Sceneggiatura Straniera category (Best Foreign Screenplay).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Urs Jenny: The laboratory of dreaming animals . In: Der Spiegel , No. 39, 1981, p. 227
  2. ↑ This week on TV: Friday, November 19th. - My uncle from America . In: Der Spiegel , No. 46, 1982, p. 288
  3. ↑ My uncle from America. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  4. ↑ See cinema.de