Le sucre (1978)

In this story, the ambitions of the get-rich-quick crowd come crashing down around their ears as they hitch a ride on a speculation bubble involving sugar-commodities pricing. Raoul (Gerard Depardieu) is a hot-shot commodities broker who sweet-talks Adrien (Jean Carmet), a quiet and unassuming man, into taking his wife's inheritance and using it to speculate on the recent rise in sugar prices. Raoul is able to pry more money away from Adrien when he shows him how much his first, more conservative speculations have made. Commodities speculators know that when the market is going their way, their earnings multiply many-fold. However, in the heat of the moment, they sometimes forget that when prices go the wrong way, their losses can also multiply. In this story, the con-man is taken in by his own con, for Raoul has also entered the sugar market, using every bit of money he can scrape together. When the market turns around, they both land in the soup together.

D'apres le livre de Georges Conchon, le film relate une affaire d'escroquerie, sur la base de bulle speculative en 1974 sur le prix du sucre. Jean Carmet y incarne un petit epargnant (Adrien Courtois) qui y perd tout l'heritage de sa femme. Gerard Depardieu est lui un courtier fantasque et sans scrupules nomme Raoul-Renaud d'Homecourt de la Vibraye (vicomte de…). Entre les deux hommes, si differents, va naitre une amitie et une complicite. Autour de ce couple gravitent des personnages tout aussi savoureux : Karbaoui (Roger Hanin), l'homme d'affaires pied-noir exuberant et magouilleur ; Grezillo (Michel Piccoli), haut magnat de la finance completement megalomane. Il faut aussi remarquer la metamorphose de la pharmacienne de province, madame Courtois, au depart austere et introvertie qui « explose » litteralement avec l'arrivee de la fortune.

Director: Jacques Rouffio
Stars: Jean Carmet, Gerard Depardieu and Michel Piccoli
Production land: France
Premiere Date: 15 November 1978 France
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