ONCE UPON A TIME… CROOKS IN CLOVER

Protagonists:

• Georges LAUTNER, director
• Bruno M., writer, Michel Audiard’s son
• Bertrand BLIER, director
• Claude RICH, actor, role of Antoine
• Alain REY, linguist
• Philippe DURANT, biographer Michel Audiard
• Dany KOGAN, daughter of stuntman Henri Cogan
• Maurice FELLOUS, director of photography

Portrait of a film: Georges Lautner directed Crooks in clover in 1963. Following the death of one of their bosses, the Mafia finds itself in the throes of a war of succession. To this somewhat usual plot, Georges Lautner, Albert Simonin and Michel Audiard added another one around a conflict of generations. On the one hand, the father’s 40-something accomplices, all of whom were famous film stars of the 50s, and on the other, the mobster’s daughter, supposedly unaware of her father’s activities, who is constantly throws parties at the family home with her fiancé, an avant-garde musician. The clash of cultures and alcohols.

Portrait of an era: The early sixties, a time of peaceful coexistence, with the emergence of youth culture, the Beatles and the Stones. In a context of continuous growth and general optimism, young people are using music as a powerful tool to assert themselves. This emancipation resulted in unexpected conflicts that will keep on proliferating.

Portrait of a filmmaker: Georges Lautner’s (1926-2013) favorite approach to filmmaking is to parody both spy films and thrillers. With Crooks in clover, he takes parody to the edge of derision, of explosive burlesque, transforming this commissioned film into a true masterpiece of French cinema. It has since become a cult film.