Trailer for Longwave (Les grandes ondes (à l'ouest)).
It’s 1974, and a French-speaking Swiss radio crew has been dispatched to Portugal for a puff piece on Swiss philanthropy in the then-developing country. Vying for command of this fool’s errand are faltering feminist Julie (Valérie Donzelli, director/star of 2012 Festival favorite Declaration of War), who’s been sleeping with the boss in the hopes of getting a primetime slot for her women’s issues show, and Cauvin (La Comédie-Française vet Michel Vuillermoz), a weathered war reporter whose memory is as spotty as his Portuguese. Just when it seems their report is a total bust, fortune arrives in the form of Lisbon’s “Carnation Revolution,” sweeping the inhibited Swiss up in a sensational tide of political and sexual liberation—and the scoop of a lifetime.
Perfectly capturing the buoyant spirit (and aesthetics) of 1970s comedies, Longwave’s screwball humor derives its heart from the actors’ warm and genial performances. Rousing Gershwin tunes, a delightful impromptu musical number and a script cleverly lined with deadpan jokes to balance out the nostalgic sight gags, meanwhile, give the movie its irresistible energy.
1 min 49 sec
Views
2,824
Posted On
January 22, 2014
Lionel Baier
Writer
Lionel Baier
Studio
Independent
Release
January 4, 2014
Valérie Donzelli
Michel Vuillermoz
Patrick Lapp
Francisco Belard
No Music Available