Jeanne Rollette

Gustave (Biscot) realizes he has acquired a telekinetic power.

If you’re already familiar with Louis Feuillade, his little-known opus Vendémiaire may come as a surprise. Unlike the bulk of his work which was characterised as ‘Fantastic Realism’, Vendémiaire is wonderfully down-to-earth realism – or down-to-French-earth realism to be specific. The film itself is divided into four chapters, the titles of which suggest that this is a movie about the cultivation and consumption of wine. But as the narrative unfolds, it becomes clear that the cultivation and consumption of wine is an allegory for French culture and French land as a whole, and the real purpose of the film is to persuade the director’s fellow citizens to defend that spirit and those lands at all costs. It’s September 1918 and the war is coming to an end, but here on the Castelviel estate in the south of France the news has not yet arrived and everyone is busy with the grape harvest....

Jacques d'Athys, a French adventurer, returns to his home in Nice after an expedition to Indochina where he has picked up a Eurasian fiancée and a book that, unbeknownst to him, contains a coded message revealing the whereabouts of both secret treasures and sensitive government intelligence. This makes him the target of foreign spies, including a Marquise of mysterious Latin origin, a Hindu hypnotist and an evil German doctor, who will stop at nothing to obtain the book.

"Be bold, young man, be bold!" repeats Judge Barbachon to his clerk Belhomme. Putting the precepts of his boss into practice, Belhomme first tries to seduce Madame Barbachon, and is thrown out of the house. Moving on to the capital of the region to look for another job, Belhomme meets a charming young lady on the tramway. He continues to follow the advice of Judge Barbachon...

Following a series of unfortunate accidents, the eminently respectable Séraphin, the meticulous and correct manager in an insurance company, finds himself trouserless in the middle of the street.

Ausonia is a poor circus performer, widowed and unemployed, with two young daughters. He succeeds to get hired in the theater of a fair run by Madame Mons and her daughter Paulete. Soon fired for having refused the owner's amorous proposals, he gets into trouble.