Get out your handkerchiefs = Preparez vos mouchoirs

Gerard Depardieu is Raoul, a young working-class man devoted to his wife, Solange, played by Carole Laure. Convinced that Solange has tired of him, he convinces a stranger, Stephan (Patrick Dewaere), to enter a menage-a-trois with himself and Solange. However, no matter how hard they try, no matter how much love they offer Solange, they are unable to bring a smile to her face or make her fall pregnant (which they believe is all that she really needs). A trip away to a summer camp leads to Solange meeting the precocious Christian, a thirteen year old boy with the IQ of a genius. At first, she attempts to mother the boy, but finds herself slowly seduced by him, and Stephan and Raoul can only stand-by and watch as the teenager gives Solange everything they cannot. This wickedly sly comedy about marriage, sexual mores, and the differences between men and women won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film in 1978. Though definitely absurdist in its sensibility, “Get Out Your Handkerchiefs” refuses to treat its characters cynically or cruelly. Rather, it is as if in examining the fall-out of the sexual revolution, Blier’s response is to throw up his arms, laugh at the madness of it all, and finally to celebrate the madness of the battle of the sexes. In French with English subtitles.