Themroc (1973)

It was truly amazing/amusing to read some of the pretentious, wanna-be pseudo-intellectual gobbledygook some people wrote about "Themroc". Clearly, this story excited quite a few of society's misfits, losers, and Marxist misanthropes because of its anarchistic attitude. They identify with the main character because, just like him, they are too weak to take the pressure of modern life so they seek out Che Guevara, Sid Vicious, or even G.G. Allin as guiding lights, mocking anyone who is content, hard-working, or successful in this oh-so evil Capitalist world they live in. (Ayn Rand refers to those types as "moochers". She was being kind.) So naturally such viewers read everything into the movie that they wanted to read into it. I.e. that it's meant to about Western decadence, police brutality, 1968, bla bla bla. (If anything, there should be MORE police brutality, especially on May 1st.) With "Themroc", making these kinds of very personal (read: deluded) interpretations is very easy: the movie has no dialogue, at least nothing apart from various grunts and groans - which is how Leftist pumpkins sound to ME when they expose their ignorance by over-rationalizing the events in movies such as this one.Piccoli is very good as the labourer-turned-Neanderthal, in what is one of the most bizarre movies I've seen. A totally obscure little oddity that is a million times harder to find than any Godard or Truffaut. Unfortunate, because this happens to be one of the best French movies ever made. Forget all those supposedly brilliant, hilariously overrated French/Euro-trash politically-coloured "character-study" dramas; THIS film is worth your attention - unless you're squeamish, that is. There is incest, there is cannibalism, and other unsavory stuff going on. And yet, the movie is part-comedy. It is not to be taken too seriously. The visual look, that somewhat grainy 70s feel, also contributes to the quality.

A modern man turning into a caveman, and it's not related to Encino Man? Count me in. The first time I heard about Themroc it immediately spoke to me. I find the idea of a person re-evolving back into his previous state pretty damn cool. And when you see the cover with Themroc screaming, you know this could be a pretty good movie. Actually it was a very good movie.If you haven't read anything about Themroc, the story is about a man who after years of the same daily routine is changing in a pretty bizarre way. His day usually starts this way: Wakes up, makes coffee, sees his mother(?) point at the clock telling him to get a move on, sees a girl (no idea the relation) naked, walks down his steps always passing the same attractive woman, rides his bike to work, hits the work locker room and begins his day. Well, the day starts off the same but Themroc(?) has this little cough going on, but isn't really a clue to him getting a cold, but actually the start of him reverting back to caveman ways. Eventually the cough turns into yells and groans. What follows is an entertaining look at how this modern caveman interacts with people and his surroundings.Going into Themroc I didn't know that much about how the story would play. I kinda expected a dark film with more violence, but what you really get is a dark comedy, with more sexual themes than violent ones. Unfortunately Themroc suffers from repetitiveness. The movie slightly drags in a few scenes, but since the movie's idea is so unique you're always expecting something surprising to happen. You do get a few nice surprises, but you also do feel a sense of repetition. Also the approach to showing a modern caveman in this manner would cause massive chaos and would be dealt with in a much more harsh manner. And during the film I thought to myself a lot that it's pretty unrealistic, but for the ending to work, it had to go this way. And that's fine with me.Themroc was well worth the wait. When he's making that change into the Caveman state, and he's about half way there, so he's groaning/grunting and yelling, but at the same time he's still attempting to be civilized. That stuff is pretty damn funny. Overall Themroc is a unique flick that most movie buffs should check out. It's entertaining, funny, well-acted and definitely different. If you get the chance to see this rare gem, check it out.

That's what John Lennon once said.Themroc is would be avant-garde,but only for these who have a short memory.Take the beginning of the movie:these herds going to work ,the hero's tiny and seedy flat,they already were in King Vidor's "the crowd" (1928).Actually Claude Faraldo contents himself with recycling the most dated clichés of the post May 68 era:down with the bosses,power to the people,kill (and eat) the cops,this is a brand new life ,opportunity knocks,make love not war,we are the good guys,the others are the villains,please get out of the new road if you can't lend a hand,and so on.Spitting on the cops was so à la mode that Faraldo could not be wrong while speaking to the intellectual post 68 elite :humble people are actually demeaned in his film.How to attract people's attention?Which form should he use? That's Faraldo's lucky break!No form at all, a formless product.So it seems that he has filmed haphazardly,then asked his editor to work in a "surrealistic " way(He was not aware that Luis Bunuel had already done that ,as far as editing is concerned- un chien andalou (1928) l'âge d'or (1930);his movies were as subversive as Faraldo's ,and at a time when it was not that much trendy.Bunuel wasn't born to follow).People who like this -and they seem to be quite a lot- should catch Jacques Doillon 's "l'an 01",which deals with the same clichés,but which is less pretentious :it could be,relatively speaking,a seventies update of Jean Renoir's "la vie est à nous" (1936).

I do not know why, but in my opinion this movie is the best i have ever seen...watch IT !!!