Verdict
Summary
It’s a nerve-wracking film that might make you feel like you’re a party or a witness to some heinous acts by two very uncouth young men who create chaos and trauma wherever they go. It’s well made and feels real, but I’m not sure that makes it a “good” movie.
Plot:
Two thugs aimlessly travel around France, getting into all sorts of mischief.
Review:
Jean-Claude (Gerard Depardieu) and Pierrot (Patrick Dewaere) are inseparable thugs who have no aim in life other than their most immediate needs – food, shelter, sex, transportation – and take what they want when they can, where they can, consequences be damned. They molest and harass women of all ages wherever they go. They steal everything: money, cars, clothes, resources, and they rape. They kidnap a pretty and very dimwitted hooker (played by Miou-Miou) who becomes their shared sex receptacle, and they treat her like garbage, but she doesn’t seem to mind. They break into homes, deal with their boredom, and in one instance Jean-Claude rapes Pierrot just to try it. As these two guys become more daring in their recklessness, they leave a swathe of wreckage in their wake. They pick up a seasoned older woman (played by Jeanne Moreau) literally as she’s released from prison because they think she’ll be itching to have sex with them, but the experience changes the two guys a little bit in ways they never could’ve expected. When that experience really roughs them up, they go back to the hooker and then they pick up a third buddy, an ex-con, who ushers them into their next phase of wandering after they become accessories to murder. These guys are definitely going places.
A notorious film upon its release, Going Places was way ahead of its time in terms of its plotless structure and its amoral stance in focusing on these two hedonistic marauders. Depardieu and Dewaere both give very convincing performances as two incredibly horrible and unlikable characters, neither of which has any redeeming qualities at all. It’s billed as a comedy, but I didn’t find it funny at all, but mostly cringe-worthy and creepy. It’s a nerve-wracking film that might make you feel like you’re a party or a witness to some heinous acts by two very uncouth young men who create chaos and trauma wherever they go. It’s well made and feels real, but I’m not sure that makes it a “good” movie. From director Bertrand Biler.
Cohen Film Collection recently reissued Going Places on Blu-ray, and it comes with an audio commentary and a trailer. The high definition transfer is solid.
