Original title: Tant qu’on a la santé
Directed by Pierre Étaix, As Long as You’ve Got Your Health is an inventive portmanteau film consisting of four distinct but thematically linked stories. It is widely considered one of Étaix’s most accomplished works, showcasing his transition from pure slapstick into a more surreal, satirical observation of the stresses of modern life.
Original title: En pleine forme
Directed by Pierre Étaix, Feeling Good is a short film that was originally intended to be a sequence within his documentary feature Land of Milk and Honey. However, its distinct narrative style and focused slapstick energy led to it being released as a standalone short. It serves as a sharp, comedic critique of the “back to nature” movement and the commercialisation of leisure.
Original title: Heureux anniversaire
Directed by Pierre Étaix and co-written by Jean-Claude Carrière, Happy Anniversary is an Academy Award-winning short film that serves as a masterclass in comic escalation. While it clocks in at only 12 minutes, it is packed with the precise, rhythmic visual gags that became Étaix’s signature.
Directed by Pierre Étaix and Jean-Claude Carrière, Rupture is a brilliant short film that marks the first collaboration between these two icons of French cinema. Though it runs only about 11 minutes, it is a masterclass in visual storytelling and a precursor to the deadpan, surreal style they would perfect in their later feature-length works.
Original title: Le soupirant
Directed by Pierre Étaix, The Suitor is his debut feature film and a brilliant love letter to the silent era of comedy. Often hailed as the spiritual successor to Buster Keaton and Jacques Tati, Étaix crafts a film that relies almost entirely on visual wit, precise timing, and the charm of a deadpan “little man” navigating a modern world he doesn’t quite understand.
Original title: Pays de cocagne
Directed by Pierre Étaix, Land of Milk and Honey is a sharp, satirical departure from his scripted comedies. It is an “investigative documentary” that captures the collective psyche of France in the immediate wake of the May 1968 civil unrest. Initially misunderstood and poorly received, it is now considered a brilliant, “reflexive” time capsule of 20th-century sociology.
Directed by the legendary French comedian and filmmaker Pierre Étaix, Le Grand Amour is a whimsical, visually inventive masterpiece of slapstick and surrealism. Often compared to the works of Buster Keaton and Jacques Tati, Étaix brings a unique, poetic touch to this satirical exploration of marriage, boredom, and the “grass is greener” syndrome.