Louis Malle authored this movie in 1960, starting from the experimental work that made Raymond Queneau famous the previous year. Yes, this is the same author of Excercises de style, the book where the same short story is repeated in 99 different styles.

Zazie is an 8-years-old high-energy dirty-talking metro-loving terrific girl, always spitting out horrific insults but somehow still so cute. Her mother wants to stay a weekend with her lover, so she brings Zazie to Paris and drops her off to uncle Gabriel, a professional drag queen interpreted by wondeful Philippe Noiret. No matter the ongoing strike, Zazie wants to try the metro, so she finds the way to escape custody and starts to wander around exploring the city, meeting unlikely characters.

I love surrealism and this movie is one of the most surreal thing I’ve ever seen. Several scenes were shot at 12 or even 8 fps, with main actors playing at half or one third speed while everything on the background looks hilariously accelerated. It’s so deliberatively absurd you can hardly believe what you find yourself staring at. Mustn’t miss it.

Zazie dans le métro,
France 1961, by Louis Malle, Comedy
with Catherine Demongeot, Philippe Noiret
IMDB 54494