A man is torn between his disgust for the decadence of the idle rich and his desire to get what he can from them in this drama, a Franco-Belgian co-production. Mimmo (Francois Vincentelli) is a cab driver who one night picks up a young woman who has staggered out of a party at a posh estate. The girl is far gone on drugs and drink, and looks as if she's been worked over; after a few minutes, she's dead. Mimmo returns to the house to inform the owner about what happened, but John Deveau (Jean-Paul Rouve) can't be bothered with bad news, while his pal David Dermont de Villard (Bouli Lanners) believes there's nothing to be done. Trying to find someone who can help, Mimmo crosses paths with Laetitia Cornet d'Anthes (Audrey Marnay), John's wife, who is quite impressed with the cabbie's rugged good looks. Laetitia is convinced Mimmo has the face and the charisma to become a movie star, and despite his qualms about her seemingly heartless husband, he's intrigued by the possibility of becoming an actor. After John and his compatriots are found to be blameless in the girl's death -- in part due to influence exerted by John's father (Jean-Pierre Cassel) -- Mimmo is invited into their social circle, where he becomes their pet proletarian and he hopes to get a break in show business. Meanwhile, as Mimmo's story plays out, a young man from Belgium who is obsessed with Japanese culture makes a pilgrimage to Tokyo, with a phony samurai sword at his side.
by Mark Deming
synopsis
