Der schöne Mai

It looks seemingly simple: just go out on the street and engage in a conversation with a willing Parisian, talk to them using gentle maieutics (the film could be called "Le joli maïeutique"), film everything with cameramen who know that documentary shots don't have to mean just sticking a camera on a tripod into the ground and then focusing on the talking head, and finally, refresh the film with a few deeper thoughts for contemplation. But because over 50 years have passed and no one has yet truly followed up on this work in terms of quality or scope, it speaks of everything that stood before the authors as far as the simplicity of the task is concerned. The film complemented the emerging (French) cinema-verité movement in its time, especially the famous Chronicle of a Summer by the Rouch/Morin duo. The soul of France, traced on the streets of Paris, shedding its burdens of the past and searching for a different future. P.S. The original version of the film is approximately 160 minutes long, but the English version (originally for the USA) was edited down to just under 2 hours. Some important scenes were cut, especially those with political significance (such as memories of torture during the Algerian War). (29.06.2014)