To conclude Slapstick Festival we present one of Pierre Etaix's best observed and accomplished features Le Grande Amour. Etaix plays Pierre, married to Florence (Annie Fratellini), though he figures he could have married one of numerous other women. Despite the salacious gossip of the elderly local women who watch his every move, he has enjoyed a largely happy marriage and a satisfactory, albeit not exactly stimulating, life. Then the arrival of a new secretary, 18 year old Agnes (Nicole Calfan), turns his world upside down.

Consumed by a passion which he is convinced must be love, he indulges in increasingly absurd and charmingly innocent romantic fantasies, utterly distracted from his day-to-day life. Over time, he becomes convinced that the only way he can be happy is to consummate his new found love. But the dilemmas this presents him with are overwhelming.

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Director's Introduction We are delighted that Pierre Étaix will be here to introduce this screening.

Fee: £7.20 full / £5.60 concessions.

This film has been restored by Studio 37, Technicolour Foundation for Cinema Heritage and Groupama Gan Foundation for Cinema