A Slightly Pregnant Man
| A Slightly Pregnant Man | |
|---|---|
 French theatrical release poster | |
| French | L'Événement le plus important depuis que l'homme a marché sur la Lune |
| Directed by | Jacques Demy |
| Written by | Jacques Demy |
| Produced by | Raymond Danon |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Andréas Winding |
| Edited by | Anne-Marie Cotret |
| Music by | Michel Legrand |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Fox-Lira (France) |
Release dates |
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Running time | 92 minutes |
| Countries |
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| Language | French |
| Box office | $2.1 million[1] |
A Slightly Pregnant Man (French: L'Événement le plus important depuis que l'homme a marché sur la Lune, lit. 'The Most Important Event Since Man Walked on the Moon'; Italian: Niente di grave, suo marito è incinto, lit. 'No Big Deal, Her Husband Is Pregnant') is a 1973 comedy film written and directed by Jacques Demy.[2]
Plot
Marco is a driving instructor who is engaged to single mother Irène, a hairdresser. Together, they raise a young son, Lucas. They have a chicken dinner and later attend a concert featuring Mireille Mathieu. During the concert, Marco suffers a dizzy spell and they leave. Back at home, Irène suggests Marco sees a doctor, but initially, he declines stating she cooks chicken too frequently. The next morning, Marco sees Doctor Delavigne who determines that he is experiencing bodily symptoms relating to pregnancy. She arranges to have Marco visit a gynecologist. On his way home, he purchases strawberries and a textbook on female anatomy. Because it is wintertime, Irène questions why Marco purchased strawberries, but notes she began eating them when she was pregnant with Lucas.
The next morning, during a drive to Doctor Chaumont's office, Marco tells Irène he is pregnant and she faints. At his office, Chaumont confirms the pregnancy, in which he concludes that the hormones in the chicken have caused an imbalance making him sufficiently feminine to carry a child. He recommends Marco stick to a low-sodium diet and refrain from strenuous exercising for the next seven months.
Marco returns to his driving school and tells Lucien, his coworker, the truth. At Irène's workplace, the news of Marco's pregnancy is published in the local newspapers. Later that night, the couple tells Lucas the news of Marco's pregnancy. Back at work, Marco is contacted by Scipion Lemeu, a businessman of a maternity clothing company, to be a model for a new fashion line of paternity clothes. Lemeu tells his proposed plan for the new advertising campaign, in which he agrees to pay the couple ten thousand francs per month (with paid vacation) until the child is ten years old. At an International Medical Congress, Chaumont presents Marco before a lecture hall full of doctors. During a live panel discussion, Marco, Irène, Drs. Delavigne and Chaumont, Pastor Petit, and Ferdinand Delabut, a television journalist, discuss various topics, including the recent occurrence of pregnant men, the women's liberation movement, and contraception.
Sometime later, multiple cases are reported throughout France of men becoming pregnant and the risk of overpopulation is placed on high alert. The movie has two different endings. In the original French version, Marco is diagnosed with having hysterical pregnancy, saddening both him and Irène. As they finally get married, Irène faints and joyfully reveals to Marco that she is pregnant. In the Italian ending, Marco realizes that he was misdiagnosed and suddenly goes into labor at his wedding, though the baby is not shown. Afterwards, men everywhere suddenly begin having pregnancy symptoms.
Cast
- Catherine Deneuve as Irène de Fontenoy
- Marcello Mastroianni as Marco Mazetti
- Micheline Presle as Dr. Delavigne
- Marisa Pavan as Maria Mazetti
- Claude Melki as Lucien Soumain
- André Falcon as Scipion Lemeu
- Maurice Biraud as Lamarie
- Alice Sapritch as Ramona Martinez
- Raymond Gérôme as Gérard Chaumont de Latour
- Michèle Moretti as Ginou
- Madeleine Barbulée as Mlle Janvier
- Micheline Dax as Mme Corfa
- Benjamin Legrand as Lucas
- Jacques Legras as Leboeuf
- Myriam Boyer as Ninon Barbeau
- Andrée Tainsy as Clarisse de Saint-Clair
- Mireille Mathieu as herself
- Tonie Marshall as Bobino host
References
- ^ "L'Evènement le plus important depuis que l'homme a marché sur la lune (1973)". JP Box-Office (in French). Retrieved 14 February 2014.
- All Movie Guide. 2008. Archived from the originalon 17 March 2008. Retrieved 28 March 2009.
External links
- A Slightly Pregnant Man at IMDb
- A Slightly Pregnant Man at AllMovie
- A Slightly Pregnant Man at the TCM Movie Database
- A Slightly Pregnant Man at Rotten Tomatoes
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