SoTrumpBelieve Must See Movie...

Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Ceticultsot Beautiful, moving film.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

MartinHafer Jean Gabin and Bourvil star in this film set during the German occupation. During this time, everyday items were often impossible to get and the black market, though very illegal, was the only way to get things like fresh meat and soap. The two stars of this film spend the evening trying to smuggle four suitcases full of pork through the streets of Paris without the Nazis catching them. Not the noblest of enterprises, I must admit.The reviews for "Four Bags Full" are extremely favorable--and have ratings that mostly fall in the 8 or 9 range. Because of this, my sights were set very high with this film. This, combined with my love of French films, made me think I'd really like this film...but I didn't. I only found it passable and, most importantly, I kept having trouble staying awake as I watched. I guess I just don't see things the way others do when it comes to this movie. I found the plot sluggish and much of Gabin's behaviors through the film just didn't make a lot of sense. I also strongly believe the film played much better long ago...when memories of the occupation and rationing were still quite fresh.

jotix100 Paris during the German occupation was a city with limited supply of basic needs. As the story begins we are taken to a butcher shop where people are seen waiting to buy whatever is available. Alas, when the last scrap of meat is sold, the crowd outside must go home empty handed. Passing the store, Marcel and Mariette Martin, witness the frustration, although they are on the way to be part of an illegal business that will mean some meat for their meager diet plus some money.The Martins come to Jambier's basement where a large pig is going to be slaughtered. Marcel's job is to take the meat across Paris to a butcher that is going to pay handsomely for the rare commodity. Since the hog that was killed weighed more than a hundred pounds, it is almost impossible for Marcel to transfer the valuable cargo to its destination. Outside Jambier's he finds a man that looks strong enough to help him. This man is Grandgil, a painter, who happens to be in the neighborhood.Grandgil, realizing there is a lot of money involved in the deal, shames Jambier into giving him more money, while Marcel is to get the original share. The two men embark on a night adventure through a dark Paris. The two allies find all kinds of diversions while attempting to deliver the meat. Dogs are attracted by the scent within the suitcases as well as other individuals. Their adventure ends badly when Marcel and Grandgil are found by a German patrol and taken to their headquarters.Claude Autant-Lara, the wonderful French director took a look at those dark days of the German occupation of Paris and turned it into a winning comedy that plays much better than it should because of the strength of the two main characters who come together because the promise of a lucrative deal, but who end up becoming friends. The war is omnipresent throughout the film, but it stays out of the way until the incident that marks the end of adventure of the two Parisians at the center of the story.The pairing of two French idols, Jean Gabin and Bourvil, pays in unexpected ways. Both actors show why they were the professionals they were in the French cinema. Their collaboration came natural. Mr. Autant- Lara gets good performances from his strong cast that included Louis De Funes, in a small role, Jeannette Batti, Georgette Anys, and Jacques Martin, among them.A must see for fans of the great Claude Autant-Lara

FilmCriticLalitRao Claude Autant Lara was an important film maker of what is known as "old style French cinema". After "Douce", it is one of his most famous films. This film is a good portrayal of all the qualities good or bad with which a French person would like to associate. No aspect of human behavior is left untouched. There is greed, seduction, fear, optimism etc. Much of the film's brilliance is due to its simple style. There is not much of dramatization and what viewers see is a display of pure acting. The two major roles are played by Jean Gabin and Bourvil. As the film is set in Paris, viewers get an unbiased visual depiction of one of the most beautiful cities. If there are people who might not like it, it must be Nouvelle vague people. As they were experimenting with their own cinema, they decided to ignore what they called "cinema of quality". The best thing which has been portrayed in this film is that after the end of the war people lived happily. This is an indication of optimism in this film.

jameswtravers The bringing together of two great comic actors of the calibre of Jean Gabin and Bourvil could not fail to be a great success, but this film surpasses the audience's expectations by several hundred kilometres. For both actors, this is a real tour de force. Bourvil is the hapless stooge to Gabin's outrageously forceful character, and the double act is unbelievably funny. One can't help but have pity for the poor unemployed Parisian as his night-time trudge across Paris is turned into his worst nightmare.Whilst much of the humour is in the performance of its two stars (joined by Louis de Funes in that amazing cellar scene near the start of the film), the script is well-written and genuinely funny in places. The menace of the Nazi threat is there all the same, and this is heightened by the darkened sets representing a deserted Paris, resounding with the distant tread of the German patrols. The last twenty minutes of the film is a distinct contrast to what preceded it, and the humour appears to fade very quickly into drama. Luckily, our heroes emerge unscathed (possibly), but the threat of what might have been substantially changes one's view of the film.Needless to say, when this film was released in 1956, scarcely 10 years after the end of the Second World War, it was widely reviled. It presented a view of the occupation that, whilst honest and accurate in retrospect, had never before been seen in French cinema and which was simply too much for many to stomach. Gabin's character was a particular target for scorn, representing a cynical free-thinking attitude that could only be regarded as dangerous and anti-Republican. The film's director, Claude Autant-Lara, should be credited with immense courage in presenting to the French people his perception of the war, unadulterated by the constraints of convention. That he should achieve this through one of the funniest of French films is a remarkable achievement.