Cheap I'm Going Home (DVD) (Manoel de Oliveira) Price

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Michel Piccoli gives a radiant performance
Meet popular actor Gilbert Valence (Michel Piccoli) during a performance of Eugene Ionesco's "Le roi meurt". The king - symbol of all dictators - is dying, but does not, does not, does not die. They should erect monuments for him. All he wants to leave is scorched earth...The Queen (Catherine Deneuve in her only scene) lists his crimes...The king is also symbolic of all those aging actors who missed the opportunity to leave the stage on time. They still cling to her dwindling fame..

Valence lost his daughter and his wife in a car accident. He has just Serge, his grandson. Thy have a good relationship and enjoy each other's company. The stage is at the center of Valence's professional life (we see Piccoli also in scenes from "Ulysses" and "the tempest"), but between performances he accepts tv and film offers. His agent urges him to take a young mistress. But Valence wants to preserve his "solitudine", and does not intent to play the "old fool". His agent has an ulterior motive: he wants him to star in a may-december romance with many bed-scenes because "this is what the audience wants". He has also another offer: A Hollywood director (John Malkovich) needs him as pinch-hitter. Valence makes many mistakes during the rehearsal. His director corrects him patiently. During shooting Valence suddenly gives up: I'm going home...

Michel Piccoli's relaxed, nearly radiant performance is this film's "raison d'etre". It contains two imaginative vignettes: Piccoli buys himself expensive shoes. During the scene with his agent we hear him talk, but his shoes do all the acting. This same evening they are robbed, and he has to go to the negotiation with his old shoes. Same trick during the rehearsal: Piccoli reads his lines, but we can guess his performance only from Malkovich's facial expression. Charming moments, but the film is terribly slow. Minutes seem like hours...