Don't be fooled by the poster : the story does not take place in the country,in spite of the bizarre title, which looks like the beginning of a fable , the verbs at the past historic indicate a distance from the director , the obscure Pierre Zacca.
This is an offbeat story, extremely different from the mainstream of the seventies French cinema. A father/son relationship does not really depict the movie: although Vincent is still helping his would be blind dad ,who hides behind dark glasses ,who has a good German Friend and who had to leave his homeland after WW2 . Is it for that that Vincent leaves the house and do not have dinner with both men? Or is it because he wants to meet his girlfriend he suspects of cheating on him with a handsome journalist? Is the auctioneer who calls at the workshop ,his dad's mistress?
Vincent moves into a small bedroom ( provided by the would be girlfriend's lover),which might justify the title : he put the donkey in the meadow (he left daddy in his house) and went to another one (the bedroom in which he showed himself to be fussy : the accomodation looks onto a nice view of Paris,all the same!)
In fact , Vincent remains a grown up kid , who does not want young women to sleep with older men, whose relationship with his father (a former collaborator during the occupation?) , whose work as a sculptor means nothing to him , and whose jealousy knows no bound.
It's not an accessible movie ,but the cast deserves your undivided attention : Michel Bouquet ,Chabrol's favorite actor ,who underplays in a subtle way ,a long-haired Fabrice Luccchini on the threshold of a long and brilliant career ,and an amazing Bernadette Laffont ,cast against type as the elegant auctioneer .And thanks to this highly talented threesome ,you can sit it through.
