Bye Bye Monkey
| Bye Bye Monkey | |
|---|---|
 Italian film poster | |
| Directed by | Marco Ferreri |
| Produced by | Maurice Bernart |
| Written by |
Marco Ferreri Gérard Brach Rafael Azcona |
| Starring |
Gérard Depardieu Marcello Mastroianni James Coco Gail Lawrence Geraldine Fitzgerald |
| Music by | Philippe Sarde |
| Cinematography | Luciano Tovoli |
| Edited by | Ruggero Mastroianni |
Release dates | 24 February 1978 (Italy) |
Running time | 114 min. |
| Country |
Italy France |
| Language | English |
Bye Bye Monkey (Italian: Ciao maschio, French: Rêve de singe) is a 1978 Italian-French film, directed by Marco Ferreri and starring Gérard Depardieu, Marcello Mastroianni, James Coco and Geraldine Fitzgerald.[1] It is about a man who finds a baby chimpanzee in a giant King Kong prop and decides to raise it like a son. It was filmed in English and shot in Long Island, New York. As this was a French-Italian co-production, French and Italian dubbed versions were made for their respective countries' theatrical releases.
Plot
Dark surreal view of a New York that is mostly empty of humans and populated only by rats and a few eccentrics. Lafayette is a young French electrician living on his own in a basement who works for the odd owner of a waxwork museum and also for a feminist theatre group. When the women decide to improvise a piece about rape, the attractive Angelica volunteers to rape Lafayette. Beside the sea, Lafayette finds an abandoned baby chimpanzee which he adopts. Angelica, who enjoyed the rape, moves into his sordid flat and shares in the care of the infant. However, when Lafayette does not respond to the news that she is pregnant, she moves out. Alone again, he returns one day to find his baby ape eaten by rats. In total despair and needing human contact, he breaks into the waxwork museum but is met with hostility by the owner. The two fight and a fire, presumably caused by faulty wiring, consumes them both. Later, we see Angelica on the shore playing happily with her child.
Cast
- Gérard Depardieu - Gerard Lafayette
- Marcello Mastroianni - Luigi Nocello
- James Coco - Andreas Flaxman
- Geraldine Fitzgerald - Mrs. Toland
- Abigail Clayton - Angelica (as Gail Lawrence)
- Stefania Casini - Feminist Actress
- Francesca De Sapio
- Mimsy Farmer - Feminist Actress
- Avon Long - Miko
- Nathalie Bernart
- Sandra Monteleoni
- Enrico Blasi
- Anselma Dell'Ollo
- Luciano Pallocchia
- Achille Antonaglia
Awards
The film was presented at the official competition of the 1978 Cannes Film Festival and received the Grand Prize of the Jury, in tie with Jerzy Skolimowski's The Shout.[2]
References
- ↑ "NY Times: Bye Bye Monkey". NY Times.com. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
- ↑ "Festival de Cannes: Bye Bye Monkey". festival-cannes.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-27. Retrieved 2009-05-12.