When the mother of a "tribe" of five children leaves for good, their inept father is not sure how to keep the family clothed and fed, and without the help of his neighbor Simone, he would be nowhere. She is attracted to him but eventually gives up on the relationship. Meanwhile, the father grabs his brood and they take off for Paris in search of the wife. But Simone accidentally ends up on the same train...
Acting
Josiane Balasko carries Simone's longing with devastating restraint.
Writing
Hubert's script finds comedy in parental failure without cruelty.
Director
Jean-Loup Hubert
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
La Smala captures a specific 1980s French anxiety about working-class family dissolution, with Paris symbolizing impossible upward mobility rather than romance.
Hubert and Balasko were frequent collaborators; she reportedly insisted on Simone's final scene being played without dialogue, against the original script.
No ratings yet
Sign in to join the discussion — comments are spoiler-gated to your watch progress.
Discussion starters
FR
