Mireille Darc is the main reason why I chose to see Georges Lautner‘s ‘La valise‘ (distributed on English-speaking markets under the title ‘Man in the Trunk‘). A film like this shouldn’t be taken too seriously, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be discussed. It is a parody of spy and action movies and a comedy inspired by the Arab-Israeli conflict. It caused scandal and was rejected by some of the public. It was made and launched in 1973, the year of one of the bloodiest wars in the Middle East. Revisited now, 50 years later, at a time when this conflict has become even more violent, it offers perhaps one of the few therapies possible in confronting the horrors of such realities – an escapist and romance comedy. It is obviously an approach that could not and cannot be accepted by everyone, then and now.
The story starts in Libya, where the Israeli agent Bloch takes refuge in the French embassy after a spectacular chase through the streets of the capital Tripoli. The French decide to extract him from Libya by transporting him in a chest marked as diplomatic mail and send their secret agent Captain Augier on a mission for this purpose. A strike at the airport delays the flight on which the two (one passenger, one in the trunk) were supposed to return to Paris and they have to spend some time in the same hotel where the beautiful cabaret performer Françoise is staying. Both men fall in love with the woman who has the gift of charming all the men in her path (and those watching the film). When the plane is hijacked by the terrorists who are looking for Bloch, the heart-winning talents of the beautiful Françoise will have to be used intensively, especially since the adventures that will take the heroes all over North Africa and in the waters of the Mediterranean are just beginning.
Georges Lautner had made several successful films until 1973, but almost all of them were in the film noir genre. Here he approaches the comic register and the success is only partial. The reason is precisely the script, written by Lautner in collaboration with Francis Veber, an excellent screenwriter, who would also start a few years later a career as a director marked by several memorable successes, although he made few films. The established Lautner and the younger Veber disappoint here with a fairly banal scenario, with comic situations and characters that do not exceed the level of mediocre film comedies. Thus, “La valise” is left to rely on the talent of the actors, and here the bet pays off. Mireille Darc is formidable. Her Françoise is sexy, a ‘modern’ but also a little melancholic girl. Jean-Pierre Marielle, one of those actors whose face is familiar to us from many films but who rarely gets a consistent role, enjoys more screen time here and uses it with charm and warmth. Michel Constantin, the actor specialized in brutal gangster roles, proves here his comic talents, especially when he acts the lover. Two more excellent French comedians appear in secondary roles: Jean Lefebvre and Michel Galabru. Their presence in such small roles is an indication that this film attracted well-known actors of the time, who wanted to be present on the credits. We totally understand their reasons. “La valise” may not be a masterpiece, but it’s a nice comedy.