I saw "Zazie" in Paris in 1962, and my French at that time was rudimentary. Nevertheless, for sheer manic energy, wonderful visual comedy, and performances that transcended the language barrier, I loved it. I've seen it since and still love it. Among its other virtues for me, this film introduced me to the marvelous actor Philippe Noiret. Malle proved to be a director with virtually unlimited range with respect to style and mood. Consider some of his other fine films: "Lacombe, Lucien," "Atlantic City," "Murmur of the Heart," and "My Dinner with Andre," to name only a few. I guess what Richard Lester did with the Beatles might be close to this when it comes to sheer antic charm, but I think "Zazie"still stands alone. Unless you have zero tolerance for whimsy and insist on Deep Meaning in your movies, I think that you're likely to enjoy this one...if you can find it.
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Bobbyh-222 October 2005
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MartinTeller10 January 2012For a long time I'd only heard vague things about this movie, but it was all very fawning and I had the sense that it was Malle's masterpiece. Then I saw a trailer that Criterion put together and my hopes were dashed. It just looked incredibly obnoxious. So I was steeling myself for a trying experience. In actuality, it's a mix of my premature impressions. Something like a Looney Tunes cartoon come to life, the film is bursting with colorful scenes, zany action, sight gags, slapstick, wordplay (much of which I assume is lost in translation), irreverent humor and wild camera tricks. I have to applaud the energy and inventiveness that Malle brings to the screen, it's a unique, anarchic and bold film with echoes in Tati, Jeunet and others. However, it's still a bit obnoxious. It's a weird sensation to be simultaneously charmed and annoyed, but very little of the comedy appealed to my sense of humor. It's all too wacky and madcap. Like HELLZAPOPPIN', I admire the spirit of it and kind of had fun with certain parts, but I doubt I would ever sit through it again.
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Frankly, in the world of corny jokes and lightweight punchlines of the Hollywood comedies I hunger for the good old French physical comedy. Malle is one of the best ju-ju men in the business and in Zazie laughs never stop. Actually, in this movie anything ever stops as people are running rather then walking and driving rather than sitting still. The story is quite simple, a little girl is sent by her mother to Paris to her uncle and the only thing she wants really is to see subway (metro). Of course she runs away, of course everybody starting after her, of course there are some dumb cops and sinister-looking strangers... Or maybe I got it all wrong for having laughed so hard I could not read the subtitles (and my French would barely guide me through a menu in some bistro). Think of it as a live action Roadrunner movie on caffeine...
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MarioB7 October 1999In the early sixties, New Wave French Cinema were very serious about themselves, with Godard and Truffaut. But Louis Malle, who was from the same generation, don't take anything seriously in this unforgettable movie. I really love the viewer analogy with the Roadrunner! Everythings goes nuts in this movie: Sounds, situations, logic, actors. It reminds us of the Mack Sennett movies. It's also got a lot of charm for the very funny and smiling face of little Demongeot playing Zazie. And how about young Philippe Noiret? He will become one of the greatest French actor of all time. Like the Jacques Tati's movies of the same era, this comedy can't grow older. Seeing today is seeing it with the same joy as in 1960. A must!
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marioonline27 November 2003A product of the French New Wave, this movie is more than 40 years old, but it still has the powers to make you leave your mouth open, either to laugh or just to be in awe. Extremely different from anything you can find on the screens today, "Zazie" is able to entertain you even without a coherent plot or a bunch of lines that make sense. A dark-short-haired witty little girl goes around an extremely colorful Paris meeting unusual and funny people. Does this remind you of anything? Actually "Zazie" had already gone beyond the borders of the land that would be explored by "Amelie" 40 years later. Maybe this means that the future is behind our backs? It is time to turn around.
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Rindiana11 June 2009This has to be seen to be believed! Malle seems just as well to be the victim of Zazie's dark whirlwind surrealism as the audience themselves. Never again achieved an adolescent movie character such an anarchic quality. Despite all the displays of technical outrageousness and pure buffoonery, the pic never feels as superficially sketch-like as many of Dick Lester's works. And the complete lack of warmheartedness is a relief in a picture featuring a young girl!
Now that's a truly original way to declass French bourgeoisie and throw an anti-Fascist pie in their faces! And it's one of the few hommages to silent comedy (amongst sundry allusions to cinema and social topics) that really work. And it's one of Malle's best.
9 out of 10 polar bears -
monabe18 February 2000Great cinema, with a wonderful exuberance and style. Louis Malle showed his great talent and versatility in this romp of cheeky comedy. Blessed with a Zazie that (for me ) captures the essence of the character originally created by Raymond Queneau, this is a 60's French film that continues to bring naive pleasure to those to whom it is a memory of the renaissance of French cinema in the early 60's, and (hopefully) will still retain a few inspirational moments for those see this movie thirty years on and who have had the benefit of later comedic directors who learned from this well-crafted and thoroughly entertaining movie.
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Rodrigo_Amaro3 August 2013"Zazie dans le Metro" is the kind of movie that owes its relative positive outcomes more to its style than to its comedy of errors kind of humor. Having been made as an American film and this would be considered a disaster. Why? It would lose in style, technique, good cultural references and meaningful message. Don't be fooled, "Zazie" has a message in between scenes. Despite an apparent lovely child as the main character and the apparent comedic routine of the film, this is more inclined to be a grown up's picture than one suitable for children - they can watch but the easily impressible ones in the audience will keep asking their parents the meaning some of the words used by the girl, many of them cursing. So, if you want to insist on watching this with a kid be warned that you're going to be just like the adult characters of this explaining everything to the kid.
It tells the story of a 12 year-old country girl (Catherine Demongeot) who is left with her uncle (Philippe Noiret), a performer artist, while her mother is spending a lovely time with her boyfriend. She flees from the house with the intent of taking the subway, but that plan fails because they're on a strike, so the rest of the movie is her sort of understandable childish behavior against the fact, so she explores the city and creates a lot of confusion against anyone she sees.
Cartoonish, filled of speed-up images, running as if it were an imitation of a Bugs Bunny gag, "Zazie dans le Métro" would be an interesting film if it had some coherence rather than just creating images just for fun. An adventurous piece about a girl discovering herself and learning about what growing up means, ultimate message of the film, would be great. The clownish tone of it was distractive and flat. I was reminded of "Amèlie", since it shared a young female's magical and unusual vision around a big city, it's her small world colliding very beautifully with other persons, other realities, forming a reflexive image about society. Both are colorful and fast paced works, carried with visual style and splendorous editing tricks. "Amèlie" is better because it has somewhere to go while "Zazie" is pure slapstick, losing humor the more it progresses.
It's not a bad movie, but it's not so dignifying of having a terrific director like Louis Malle writing and directing it and let's face it, humor doesn't suit him. His greatest works are all dramas (see "Au Revoir Les Enfants" or "Damage"). It's a good picture, indeed, genius in its creative compositions, elaborated sequences (the breathless one in the Eiffel Tower takes the cake), paying an homage to the silent era but it's a real tough break to endure the annoying little brat, her mannerisms and language (not believable in the 1960's context) which isn't funny or humored because she's mistreating people who are good to her and undeserving of such treatment.
I liked what I saw even though I laughed only once or twice. Mr. Noiret was a class act and made this a very enjoyable film along with the great locations. And don't be fooled by the false advertising, she only spends ten seconds in the subway and doesn't even notice. 6/10 -
sm.starman2 November 2000Raymond Queneau is my favorite writer. He was one of the rare giants of french litterature who could make you really laugh out loud while you were reading one of his classics.
ZAZIE DANS LE MÉTRO was his funniest novel, but if you are not fluent in french, you will miss a lot of the jokes; Queneau loved to play with the language.
Fortunately, Louis Malle has done a good job in adapting the humor of Queneau, translating the novel into a more visual, slapstick, cartoon-like movie. An intelligent comedy that is it's own unique category. -
rmax30482310 October 2015A visual cartoon. It's colorful, filled with speeded-up action and absurdities, sometimes almost frantic, and seems to combine M. Hulot with Richard Lester's treatment of the Beatles yet to come.
There's nothing much to the story. Nine year old Zazie, a shrill little girl, meets odd people in Paris and impossible things happen. As shocking as it must have seemed at the time, it's more charming than amusing now, after the technique has been anatomized and splayed across the screen so often since then.
And to think this comes from Louis Malle, director of quiet, sensitive, understated tales with an abundance of humanity. Also Candace Bergen as a wife.
Of all the silly characters, Philippe Noiret is the most appealing. He was the same mope then that he is now except so much younger.
It occurs to me that if you're fond of silent comedies with Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd, you'll probably like this. It goes beyond the silent comics into the absurdist ionosphere but still -- -
planktonrules14 March 2006This is one of the few movies on IMDb that I just couldn't finish watching--it was THAT bad. And, this is another example of a movie with reasonably decent IMDb reviews that seems way out of proportion. Even if it's not as bad as I think, it's hard to imagine it being a great film, that's for sure. But, once again I might just be an old crank. Read along and you be the judge.
This movie was directed by Louis Malle--a very well-respected director, to say the least. However, this film just doesn't show the talents that would be so evident in films like AU REVOIR LES ENFANTS. This film just looks lousy by modern standards of film making--not especially professional or polished. This is because so much in the film is telegraphed and painfully slapstick. And, at times, the camera and music speed up to let us know "it's time to laugh"--like what you might expect in a high school pageant when someone is doing a lame Charlie Chaplin impersonation. Then, when you combine this very broad humor(?) with a foul-mouthed little brat, you have the ingredients of a thoroughly unappealing,...nay, annoying film. Stupid and unfunny slapstick and an annoying brat--it's like watching a 90 minute migraine! This movie, like the French love of Jerry Lewis, is something I just don't get. -
evanh-13 June 2006I've just seen this movie on DVD and enjoyed the humor and wit. According to some Dutch and French web-pages like http://perso.orange.fr/cinefrance/1960/zazie.html Zazie is not played by 12yo Catherine but by a 9½yo Milène, what seems right to me by the looks of her, she's definitely too petite for a 12yo, age 9 or 10 seems much more likely. In the trailer she is described as a 9½yo too. Her lines seem a little too adult now and then, but bear in mind who wrote the scenario! Louis Malle was famous for breaking taboos. This movie was intended for enjoyment, like a comedy, but with a sharp view on the changing French society. Also some comments on hypocritical ways of dealing with taboos like homosexuality and "dirty old men". Funny to see the traffic congestion in Paris, already then, and the looney effects, inspired by Tex Avery.
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Films featuring metro are a sub genre in itself.In French cinema,2 of the most eccentric metro films are :subway and Zazie dans le métro.On the one hand "Subway" is more of an "in the metro" film,on the other hand "Zazie dans le métro" can be defined as something of "outside the metro" film.Nothing much happens in the metro itself.This is because in the film Parisian metro is just a metaphor in order to allow a young girl to explore the intricacies of the adults' behavior.The young girl whose role is nicely played by Catherine Demongeot is a veritable trouble maker.Although she is in Paris to enjoy her stay, she is more interested in pestering her uncle.Great French actor (now dead),Philippe Noiret plays the role of the hapless uncle who is absolutely at a loss as to how to reply to his niece's absurd questions.This film by Louis Malle is quite unusual as there is no other film which can match its spirit of freewheeling fun.For fact finders, the film is based on a novel by Raymond Queneau who was close to surrealist writers of his times.
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Not being familiar with the French Wave comedies, such as this one, a wild comedy directed by Louis Malle, I didn't know what to expect of ZAZIE DANS LE METRO. PHILIPPE NOIRET is the unfortunate uncle in charge of taking care of a girl while her mother has other plans.
The Gallic humor is not only zany, it's also a bit on the puerile side. A little boy with a sign on him that says "Secondhand" is on display at a flea market. Little "Zazie" with the bawdy sense of humor and an adult's use of cuss words is funny at first but becomes tiresome by the time the story winds on and on about her wanting to escape from her "funny" uncle. The sight gags involving the girl running through a marketplace are enough to conjure up images of the French laughing at Jerry Lewis...for no good reason.
Malle throws in every possible prop for laughs, including fast-motion photography but the total effect is wearying.
Paris is a lovely city but it sure has its share of run-down interiors judging from the hotel settings and the residence of PHILLIPE NOIRET as the exasperated uncle. Interesting to note that Paris traffic was a huge headache even back in 1960. All of it is photographed in color with a style that's a cross between Charlie Chaplin's Keystone Cops comedies and the art of Jerry Lewis.
The uncle, it turns out, dances in drag in a nightclub but to bring in any more plot at this point is as senseless as the film, which tries hard to be charming in a Gallic way--but never quite makes it.
This one is strictly a matter of the viewer's taste. Some will love it, others won't even get through the first half-hour.
"I've had it with that brat!" cries a cabbie after spending time with Zazie. Me too. -
Artêmis10 January 2000Since I first heard about "Zazie dans le métro" I wanted to watch it. Seven months ago, a cult-cultural-theatre from Rio de Janeiro re-launched "Zazie" and when I saw the advertisement I just thought: what a fun and strange movie! Look at its name: "Zazie No Metrô" (the same, zazie in the subway)! Look at this little girl, at her face, and the plot! Well, only 3 days ago I finally watched it at a Brazilian cable-tv station, Eurochannel, that shows only European movies and shows. For instance, in Eurochannel I watched all these "critics-loved" and "European-festival-winners" such as Festen, La Double Vie de Veronique, Ma vie en Rose (great film), Entre Tinieblas (Almodovar!), Breaking the Waves, Bent, and a lot, I mean a lot of movies made by François Truffaut: L'Amour in Fuite, Tirez sur le Pianiste, Baisers Volés, Domicile Conjugal, Les Deux Anglaises Et Le Continent, Les 400 Coups, Jules et Jim, La Femme D'À Côté, Le Dernier Métro... just in November! And, I don't know why, they aired 6 Hitchcock's films although they were made in USA. Euro is just great. And seeing that Zazie would be aired at it was great. I thought: If it is in Eurochannel, it must be good...
And "Zazie" is really very good! The beginning is simply hilarious with unforgettable scenes. Zazie running away in Paris while a friend of his uncle try to catch her and then a man that she stoled a jeans is the best of all, showing her laughs, she appearing and then disappearing, like a cartoon. Then she walks in Paris finding even more strange people. But unfortunately, after 1 hour it starts to be quite boring. Zazie stops to do her smart comments while the others characters talk more and more culminating in a crazy fight with all of them in a restaurant. And suddenly, it ends with a memorable quote of Zazie. Watch it to see.
But the biggest surprise was when I realized that the director of "Zazie dans le métro" was Louis Malle and that he had directed the touching "Au revoir les enfants" too, that I watched only 1 month ago. It's fun to see how Louis made such different films: while "Zazie" is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen, "Au revoir les enfants" is one of the sadder. "Au revoir" is dark, gloomy, touching and dramatic (and very beautiful too). So, I wouldn't recommend only "Zazie" but "Au revoir les enfants" too. They're very different but they have one thing in common: they're great. -
frankde-jong17 October 2020In "Zazie dans le métro" we look at the world through the eyes of a child. In particular amorous behavior seems very strange from this perspective.
"Zazie dans le métro" is not the only and certainly not the best movie from the perspective of a child. I much prefer "Mon oncle" (1958, Jacques Tati).
'Zazie dans le métro" is also not a showpiece in the oeuvre of Louis Malle. In my opinion Malle was better in making films in which we look at the world of a child / boy through the eyes of an adult, such as "Lacombe Lucien" (1974) -
writers_reign2 October 2005This is a screen adaptation of one of those novels they said couldn't be filmed. Raymonde Queneau is a sort of James Joyce-lite whose work is studded with word-play but Jean-Paul Rappeneau and director Louis Malle make it work. A simple premise - Zazie, played by 12 year old Catherine Demongeot, is brought to Paris by her mother and dumped on uncle (Philippe Noiret) so mom can enjoy some R and R with her latest boyfriend. Zazie has only one desire, to see and ride on the Metro but the Metro is on strike - spins out of control as foul-mouthed Zazie takes off on her own and encounters a succession of pre-Monty Python/Basil Fawlty types in nothing flat. As if this bouillabaisse needed seasoning Uncle is a drag artist though straight with it. If you don't respond to zany humour you'll find it infantile - as at least one commenter did - if not chances are you'll rejoice.
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jotix10027 September 2011Zazie, a young girl from the provinces, is brought to Paris by her mother, who wants to spend some time with her lover. When asked by her uncle what part of Paris she wants to see, she answers: the metro! Zazie's wish was not to come true because of a transit strike in the city that has closed the underground system. The result is chaos in the streets where thousand vehicles try to go nowhere.
The young girl surprises because of her dirty mouth. She can out curse even the most experts in the subject. A trip to see the Eiffel Tower with her uncle Gabriel, brings the young girl face to face with tourists and an assortment of people she has never seen in her life. Deciding to take off to explore on her own, puts Zazie in touch with a series of Parisian characters that she would not see otherwise in her more provincial setting.
Louis Malle's "Zazie dans le Metro" was his third film. He was clearly paying homage to the silent films of the beginning of the century. The flavor of the picture reminded us of the Keystone Kops with its frantic pacing and running gags. The style of the film is quite in contrast with the previous movies of Mr. Malle. Perhaps the chaos in the film stands as a metaphor for the way he perceived things in a metropolis like Paris.
A young Philippe Noiret, who up to then had been seen a lot of television, makes a wonderful Gabriel, the entertainer at a small cabaret. Young Catherine Demongeot plays Zazie with an intensity that her nine years made possible. Vittorio Caprioli shows up in several disguises. Carla Marlier makes a wonderful Albertine, the almost silent wife of Gabriel. Yvonne Clech, Hubert Deschamps and the rest of the crew contribute to the zaniness of the atmosphere created by Mr. Malle. -
gbill-748773 November 2020It's pretty silly but I was charmed and smiling for most of it, mainly because of its zaniness and the way Louis Malle put it together almost like an old Looney Tunes cartoon (complete with spherical bomb at one point). The plot can be summarized pretty simply: a little girl (Catherine Demongeot) comes to stay with her uncle in Paris, and mayhem ensues. She's plucky, streetwise, and has a foul mouth, but adorable nonetheless. In addition to all the fast motion and visual tricks that were delightful, I loved seeing the street scenes in Paris and the action up on the Eiffel tower, as well as the sex and flirtation between various characters (Annie Fratellini, Yvonne Clech, and Carla Marlier are all adorable too).
In the process the film comes dangerously close to making light of pedophilia, and I confess I cringed when Zazie says "It was terrific" at the end of her mostly garbled account of what her father did to her - but most of it is played so farcically and with a kid that we know is never in any real danger, that it seemed ok. It's hard to follow what's happening in the final 20 minutes or so, and the scenes of all hell breaking loose were less interesting (maybe because Zazie was no longer as involved), but by that point the film had built a lot of equity with me. It's just a wild frenzy of a film, and while it's not highbrow comedy, the way it was made was pretty cool. Recommended if you want something playfully French. -
gavin69426 September 2014When the mother of Zazie comes to Paris to meet her lover, she leaves her daughter with her uncle Gabriel. However the reckless and uncontrollable niece leaves Gabriel's apartment and decides to visit Paris by subway.
Some reviewers see in this film the roots of "Amelie". Others may see a very French version of "Catcher in the Rye", albeit nowhere near as dark. What we certainly have is a fast-paced slapstick screwball film of a little girl in a big city where nothing goes right. And also a sheep or a dog or something.
While the film is not heavily structured in any narrative sense, it is quite fun in how it uses stream of consciousness to tell its tale. In a way, the sum is greater than its parts because the story is the experience itself. -
claudio_carvalho19 February 2009When the mother of Zazie (Catherine Demongeot) comes to Paris to meet her lover, she leaves her daughter with her uncle Gabriel (Philippe Noiret). However the reckless and uncontrollable nephew leaves Gabriel's apartment and decides to visit Paris by subway. However the employees are on strike and the runaway girl gets Gabriel into trouble in a chaotic Paris.
"Zazie Dans le Metro" is a surrealistic, bizarre and annoying comedy "à la Mel Brooks". This type of humor might works for Parisians or even Europeans, but I really did not like it. The lead character is irritating and Catherine Demongeot is not funny. My vote is four.
Title (Brazil): Not Available -
aveilbrief28 January 2006I will not waste your time by elaborating on the qualities of this original and witty film. Others have already done that, and everyone can see for themselves. But for all the cinematographic brilliance, I have to admit to a little (well, a bit more than that actually) vexation about the little Zazie's whims. Frankly, I find her a conceited, spoilt, little loudmouth, and this substantially diminished my pleasure watching the film. Her behaviour is unbearable even by today's standards, but extraordinary by those of 1960. Looked from that angle, 'Zazie dans le métro' is not only a brilliantly crafted film, but also a prophetic and emblematic one. In the second half of the 20th century, the child became the focal point of attention (in the western world at least), and this film shows this as few others.
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Henry-594 September 1999This movie is not only not funny, but clumsy, stupid, and irritating. We have found, however, that it does serve one purpose: we use it as a way to get our son to behave, by threatening to make him watch it.
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elo-equipamentos11 September 2018This second look at this picture that l found low rated on first time in 2011 gave me another print of this old portrait of this weird Louis Malle's experience, this turn hidden things show up which l didn't realized, as shown in first half of picture is plenty of novelty, using innovative techniques of camera's works on such delights scenes on Paris's streets, a particular look on a famous Eiffell tower at closer details of steel structures and their old process of engineering of the past century which are my work's field, the second and final part Malle lost your hand end up in complete mess, in my humble opinion this one deserves a second look!!!
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First watch: 2011 / How many: 2 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.5 -
cstotlar-127 January 2015I don't particularly relish being the odd man out here but a I found this film exhausting to watch. It is amusing however to see the author show off his stuff with the camera and editing and in fact parts of it DO look Nouvelle Vaguish. Even by French standards the girl here - Zazie - has a foul mouth and her insolence does wear on the nerves quite a bit even by midway through the viewing. The film is or isn't going somewhere/ nowhere very, very fast. In all honesty this is nothing next to "Lacombe Lucien" or "Au Revoir Les Enfants" or even "Atlantic City" where Malle practically glows in the dark. It feels to me like a film with a few skits that's been pumped up to the length of a full-length movie and I found myself really rather happy to see all the action come to a halt. Tant pis!