Le départ
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Jerzy Skolimowski
Jean-pierre Léaud
Catherine Duport
Léon Dony
Paul Roland
Jacqueline Bir
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Marc, a 19-year-old hairdresser's assistant in Brussels, has one passion--automobiles. He has already signed up to drive a Porsche, though he does not own one, in a race scheduled to take place in 2 days. At the last minute, however, Marc's employer, whose Porsche he has intended to use, decides to use his car himself over the weekend. Marc then persuades his best friend, a fellow hairdresser, to disguise himself as a maharajah, and Marc, posing as the maharajah's secretary, takes a Porsche out of its showroom for a "trial run." Using the car, he delivers several wigs for his employer, then meets a young woman, Michèle. Once back at the shop, Marc talks with a seductive older woman, a Porsche owner, who tells him that a car may be rented or borrowed; and she gives Marc her telephone number for use if he should need her help. Instead, he calls a car rental agency and is quoted a deposit price of 15,000 francs. Marc, now frantic, takes Michèle to an auto show in the hope of stealing spare parts that can be sold. When this tactic fails, both Michèle and Marc's friend reluctantly offer to help raise the needed money. Despite a plait of hair worth 10,000 francs and some marketable items Michèle has gathered together, Marc is unable to raise the deposit money. Desperate, he remembers the seductive woman and decides to accept her offer of help, but when he discovers that Michèle has cut her long tresses in the hope of selling them to a wigmaker, he is so touched that he forgets all about the older woman. The rental agency then informs Marc that he is too young in any case to rent a car, and in consequence he makes several futile attempts to steal one. His boss, meanwhile, returns unexpectedly. With Michèle as his navigator, Marc "borrows" the Porsche and sets out for the big race. On their way, the couple stop at a hotel to sleep. Marc sleeps on the floor and dreams of the race and Michèle. When Michèle wakes up, she sees Marc sadly standing at the window; he has overslept, and the race has begun. Now acknowledging a passion no longer obfuscated by automobiles, Marc turns from the window toward the bed.
Director
Jerzy Skolimowski
Cast
Jean-pierre Léaud
Catherine Duport
Léon Dony
Paul Roland
Jacqueline Bir
John Dobrynine
Georges Aubrey
Maxane
Lucien Charbonnier
Bernard Graczyk
Marthe Dugard
Jacques Cortois
Crew
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Filmed in Brussels in 1966. Some sources credit the actor playing the role of the boss as Léon Dory. Bracketed roles are unconfirmed.
Miscellaneous Notes
Winner of the Best Film Prize at the 1967 Berlin Film Festival.
Shown at 1967 Berlin Film Festival.
Shown at 1967 London Film Festival.
Shown at New York Film Festival September 22, 1967.
Shown in New York City (Walter Reade) as part of program "Growing Up with Jean-Pierre Leaud: Nouvelle Vague's Wild Child" December 16 - January 6, 1995.
color
