This is one of the best statements I ever heard on the fallacy of the work and matriarchy: funny, intelligent, amused, sagacious. It shows as the rude force it's nothing compares to the ambush of the woman. Only the intervention of something simple and very primitive ( a little dog ) can break the secular slavery the one that is submitted the masculine species. The obedience to the woman and the undercover values (Who works is noble, God helps the hard workers, the buzzer and the ant, etc.) they overwhelm the happy life of the "big man", until the destination, taking pity of it, decides to give an aid to it. The fear of a subversion of the public order seems to have been the causer of the no propaganda the respect of this masterpiece. The field of sunflowers, in the end, suggests the return to the paradise and the conquest, finally, of the happiness.

I have been searching for this film -- in any format -- for years. I saw it twice in two days in the late sixties at a small museum theater that showed mostly foreign and art films. And although it is, admittedly, a slight film and probably no one's idea of a great cinematic masterpiece, it has more charm than 99 out of 100 Hollywood comedies. It may be that the anarchic feeling of the film dovetailed so well with our own rebelliousness of that era. Maybe it was the dog. I imagine running it on a double bill with Marcel Pagnol's "The Baker's Wife" -- now THAT would be something!I have scoured the websites and catalogs of lots of distributors looking for some evidence that "Alexandre" is out there somewhere, aspiring to a new life on DVD (or even VHS!), but to no avail. Let's hope this charming gem of a comedy is not lost forever -- THAT would be a tragedy!

I saw this movie in 1967 when it was released, and thought it was wonderful. I've managed to find and buy another French movie (with English subtitles from around the same period of time - sold in the U.S.) but after having found "Alexander" and searching the Internet for a U.S. seller, I have had no luck. It appears, from what I can tell, that it's never been dubbed in English or has had a version made with English subtitles. I noticed that Amazon.com in France seems to be selling it on DVD (in French) but this would be extremely time consuming - with money conversion and transcontinental red tape, and it would probably be more costly than buying it in the U.S., etc. If someone has any information to the contrary, I would be very interested.

The second time I saw this film was on TV in France, on a Sunday afternoon in the seventies. I had enjoyed it so much the first time that I had no hesitation in settling down to see it again. Halfway through the film I was getting puzzled by stuff I didn't remember -- and it wasn't until nearly the end that I realized that the first time I saw the film was on an airplane across the Atlantic, where I had omitted to rent headsets. So the soundtrack was all new! Needless to say, the actual sound of Noiret's horn and the dialogue (especially the kids) didn't make me enjoy it any less. But it is a sign of true comic genius that you can be that funny even with the sound turned off -- in a class with Tati and Chaplin.I'd love to find a DVD of this film too. I don't believe it was ever released on NTSC videotape.