THE BEST WAY Movie Review

The Best Way to Walk
La Meilleure Façon de Marcher

A longtime assistant to such directors as Robert Bresson, Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut, Claude Miller made his feature-directing debut with this wise and witty dramatic comedy set in the early 1960s. Patrick Dewaere plays Marc, a rugged and proudly masculine counselor at a boys’ summer camp, who is startled (to say the least) when he stumbles unannounced into the cabin of fellow counselor Philippe (Patrick Bouchitey), only to find him attired in a dress and full makeup. The Best Way, originally titled The Best Way to Walk, is the story of Marc's method of dealing with this information, which begins with his steady taunting of Philippe (who also happens to be the son of the camp's director) and quickly escalates to full psychological torture. Miller's carefully shaded script also shows us how—despite his revulsion—Marc is fascinated by the spectacle he happened on, and how that fascination ultimately evolves into an unexpected and surprisingly moving bond of understanding between the two men. Unsentimental yet genuinely touching, The Best Way marks the debut of an important and gifted director, whose subsequent films would include such major works as The Little Thief (1989) and The Accompanist (1993).

NEXT STOP … Beautiful Thing, Different for Girls, Ma Vie en Rose

1976 85m/C FR Patrick Dewaere, Patrick Bouchitey, Christine Pascal, Claude Pieplu; D: Claude Miller; W: Luc Beraud, Claude Miller; C: Bruno Nuytten; M: Alain Jomy. VHS FCT