Gilbert, assigned to incinerate old banknotes at the Bank of France, lives with his wife, Gisèle, and his young son, Thomas. A few years earlier, he had formed a rock band with Serge and Gisèle's brother, Marc. The latter, abusing his naivety, make him believe that he has been robbed of a briefcase containing a million dollars and that, because of his fault, Marc is in danger of dying. The objective is to force Gilbert to put his incinerator out of order to facilitate the bank robbery. Gilbert refuses at first, then gives in. But he discovers that he has been cheated. To get revenge, he tells the police the date and time of the robbery.
Acting
Jugnot's hangdog everyman is criminally underappreciated.
Writing
The scam-within-a-scam structure actually pays off.
Director
Yves Amoureux
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was one of five films Jugnot released in 1987, peak 'sad Frenchman' era.
The Bank of France incinerator job was real; workers underwent psychological screening to handle destroyed wealth daily.
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