Violette & François (1977)

It's the 2nd time I saw Jacques Dutronc in a movie. In my opinion, here he doesn't seem out of place like in L'important c'est d'aimer. Here he plays François, a husband with troubled childhood, and the uncertainty of having jobs makes him play petty thief.

The beautiful Isabelle Adjani plays Violette. She is from a rich family, but her relationship with François has forced her to leave them. She lives with her lover and their baby boy in a little flat. Sometimes they have money, sometimes they do not. They work whatever jobs they are offered - although they enjoy life very much that they seem not to do the jobs seriously. In the movie, money problem begins when Violette returns home to find that they have been robbed. The money box is empty. They don't have any food and share among them a plate of the baby's food. Then François gives her some money and they three go shopping in a supermarket, where Violette sees François does his little tricks and steal several tins of canned food.

Violette is upset, but only at first. Later she joins François and the success makes her want to do it again. Canned food is to support the family, but later they also take other things like children's toys, watches, and a digital camera. Finally Violette gets caught - but they let her go. François seems to stop doing it also, but when he has lost a job again, he starts again, and gets caught. As he fights and runs, the department store's security guards turn him to the police. As much as she loves François, Violette knows that a life like that won't work, and the only way is that she must leave him.

It's a simple story of everyday life, like many French movies in the 70's. The chemistry of the 2 main characters are very good. It has a sad ending: two people in love must separate because they don't have a proper job.