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General Review:
I really enjoyed the Blier-Depardieu-Miou Miou team on the film Menage. Going Places lacks Menage's humor (even though it is called a comedy). It is in many respects a very unpleasant film. As in Menage, the dialogue is not only sexually explicit but downright crass -- Blier wants you to know how uneducated and uncouth his characters are. One example: when the boys first meet Marie-Ange and are dropping her off, Jean-Claude asks if they can touch her 'down there' because it's supposed to bring good luck. She lets them and then laughs saying, 'I didn't know it was supposed to bring good luck.' Jean-Claude says 'Oh, yes, touching something dirty always brings good luck, like stepping in dog shit,' meanwhile smelling his fingers. Très galant.
This film shocked Paris audiences in 1974. It's also considered Depardieu's break-out film. Both Blier and Depardieu were certainly going to be noticed after a film like this, and if Depardieu's reputation had the odor of the streets about it for the first ten years or so, this film, and this character, can take at least part of the credit. More on that in the next section.
As a viewing experience, Going Places does not keep you on the edge of your seat with a well-paced story, but it does fascinate in a road-side-accident kind of way. Blier has been called a misogynist, and he is certainly cruel to his female characters -- all of them, except perhaps Jeanne Moreau, are idiotic sluts. But to be fair, his male characters aren't exactly paradigms either. This is the truly seedy side of life, and Blier is one of the few writers who can bring it, warts and all, to screen. For that alone, it's worth watching. The performances, all across the board, are exceptional.
Depardieu Review:
What I kept feeling watching this film was how young Depardieu was and how much this depiction was probably like the real hoodlum Depardieu had been before becoming an actor. This is, at least, quite close to the impression of him that his PR has promulgated through the years. He lacks here the suave sophistication of the Count of Monte Cristo or even the confidence of the seducer Bob in Menage. In Green Card, his character, Georges, supposedly had a childhood on the streets, but Georges is Chevalier compared to Jean-Claude. Depardieu in this film still has the gawkiness of childhood -- he hadn't grown into himself yet. He is completely natural and daring in front of the camera, but he is not yet the cinema star. I mean that in the best sense. This is Depardieu before he was Depardieu. For that reason alone I treasure this performance. It's raw, raw, raw.
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