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Set in a suburb of north-east Paris between December 1935 and July 1936 during the "revolutionary" period of the Popular Front (who introduced the first paid holidays and a shorter working week). Three unemployed performers decide to take over by force the music hall where they worked a few months earlier and stage a show there.

The story line about the labor unions and the struggle between socialist/communist and reactionary forces in France in the 30's was an unexpected part of the experience. We had expected the usual song and dance routines in typical Parisian music halls and were surprised to be involved in a realistic and meaningful description of life among the organizers and performers. Acting is uniformly excellent with very good direction. The complex story details are fairly easy to follow. The subtitles are clear and adequate for the dialog.



Genres: Art/Foreign, Comedy, Drama, Musical/Performing Arts and Politics/Religion

Running Time: 2 hrs. 1 min.

Release Date: April 3rd, 2009 (limited)

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some sexuality and nudity, violence and brief language.

Distributors: Sony Pictures Classics

U.S. Box Office: $744,626