Innovative French Director Robert Bresson wrote and directed this brief look at what happens under two opposing republics. Bresson gleefully skewers ceremonies, politics, and pretension in general in this exercise in slapstick comedy. The film opens with a ticker-tape parade, and dignitaries absolutely drowning in all the confetti. More sight gags follow in quick succession. A dignitary receives a flower and absent-mindedly tosses it to the ground, where a street sweeper quickly sweeps it up. Ladies resort to a racy Busby Berkley-like dance maneuver prior to the unveiling of a statue in front of a public gathering. The unveiling recalls Chaplin's opening in City Lights. There's even a Chaplin-like chap who pops up now and then during the film. When a dignitary yawns mirroring a statue while presenting it, it sets off a visual set of dominoes, culminating with the complete nosedive of a plane with a female pilot: absolutely hilarious. The pretentiousness of full military dress with the old world long beard is poked fun at as well. Soldiers become like the Keystone Cops when a large building facade does a shimmy because of a tuba. A dignitary is hosed when his platform becomes overheated. The coup de grace is watching several attempts to christen a new ship go awry and the ship itself, Titanic in nature, sinks. A lot of sight gags and political jests are packed into a short film, which purportedly is still incomplete despite restorative efforts. **1/2 of 4 stars.
Review of Public Affairs
