My American Uncle by Alain Resnais (1980)

By intertwining three separate narrative voices, My American Uncle tells the story of three lives, of three individuals from completely different social milieus whose fates mingle for a moment by chance. Jean Legall is born into a wealthy Breton family, is a brilliant student, and dreams of becoming a writer. He marries, has children, and settles for a life as a teacher in a Parisian high school. Through connections he lands some assignments from the Ministry of Education and twenty years later has risen to the position of News Director at the State Radio Bureau. Janine Garnier is born in Paris to militant communist workers. She develops a passion for theater and dreams of becoming an actress. Discouraged by her parents, for whom the theater is not a serious occupation, she leaves home and by pure luck lands the main role in an avant-garde play which has a long run on the Left Bank. René Ragueneau, finally, is the practicing Catholic son of a small farmer. He has to work hard to get his elementary school diploma, then studies business by correspondence. His dream is to escape from the farm and make a career in the business world. Finding employment in a family-owned textile factory, by dint of hard work and study he succeeds in climbing the ladder to the position of technical director. In what little leisure time he enjoys, he becomes a gourmet cook.

We learn moreover that each of these three characters harbors a fascination for a different French movie star, mythical figures of cinema who appear episodically in brief shots (always in black and white) which are juxtaposed to the corresponding character. For Jean the star is Danielle Darrieux; for Janine it is Jean Marais; and for René it is Jean Gabin.

Parallel to the three narratives which develop the lives of the three main characters, there is a fourth discourse which comes from a real-life character, the scientist Henri Laborit. Moving around his laboratory, Professor Laborit intervenes periodically to discuss his hypotheses on the biology and psychology of human behavior, which elucidate, to a certain extent, the actions and reactions of the three fictional characters.

It is at the very moment (1975) at which each of the three main characters is enjoying the most success in his or her chosen career that the action really begins, that is, when the three destinies begin to converge. When Jean takes his wife to see the play in which Jeanine is starring, he falls in love with her and soon leaves his wife and children to move into her apartment. René learns that the factory he has been working for is going to be acquired soon by a larger competitor. He is going to have to tolerate the constant presence in his office of Veestrate, his rival for the position of technical director.

Both of the above situations turn out badly. Having displeased his minister, Jean is abruptly fired as News Director. To make matters worse, he begins to suffer acutely from renal colic caused by kidney stones. Anguished by his fear of losing his position, René develops a stomach ulcer. His fears come true: the position is given to Veestrate, who is more abreast of modern production techniques. To compensate him, his new employers offer him a position as director of a new clothing factory in Cholet, 600 kilometers away from his home in Roubaix. Forced to accept, he leaves for his new position without his wife Thérèse, who refuses to leave her teaching job and uproot their children. At the same time Jean’s wife Arlette attempts to get her husband back by convincing Janine that she is very ill and is going to die soon. Janine falls into the trap and provokes an argument with Jean to have a pretext to break up with him.

Two years later Jean and Jeanine meet again by chance in the little Breton island which belongs to Jean’s family. Jeanine, whose career as an actress was short-lived, has become a style consultant in the textile company for which René Ragueneau works. Jean had returned to his teaching position after his downfall, but he has just published a polemical book about his experience at the Radio Bureau. He is preparing to run as a candidate in the next elections for the national legislature. In their conversation Janine learns that Jean’s wife Arlette had never been ill and understands that she had duped her to get her husband back. Devastated, she nonetheless goes to a business meeting in Cholet with Zambeaux, the CEO of her company, and René, whose factory is having financial difficulties.

Zambeaux suggests to René that he accept the lower position of technical director of his factory, under the authority of a new director. Indignant at this proposal, René abruptly leaves the restaurant where the meeting is taking place. However, he soon returns and apologizes. Familiar with René’s talents as a cook, Janine offers him with Zambeaux’s approval an executive position in a chain of gourmet food stores. This is the last straw for René. Deeply humiliated he goes back to his room and hangs himself. Saved just in time by his landlady, he is taken to the hospital where he receives treatment and is soon out of danger.

Meanwhile Janine goes to Jean’s home to discuss their situation with him. After a confrontation with his wife Arlette, who clearly scoffs at her, she finally finds Jean at a wild boar hunt. He informs her that Arlette had confessed to everything the night before and gives her to understand that he has decided to side with his wife. Overcome with indignation, Janine strikes Jean repeatedly as he tries to fend her off. Meanwhile, René has regained consciousness at the hospital and finds his wife at his side in tears. Janine and Jean continue to fight in the field where they had met, while their struggle is juxtaposed to shots of a wounded boar running around and around in circles, on the point of collapsing. The film comes to an end with a series of shots of a slum neighborhood in New York City.