AllMovie

Filled with references and language that will be most meaningful to those intimate with the French language and culture, this gritty outing attempts to paint a dignified but funny portrait of a poor, dysfunctional family during the winter of 1968. The Jacobs currently reside in a grim industrial junkyard on the outskirts of Paris. Jesus is a bit of a hippy with his long hair, loud, hip clothing and wild man ways. His father is an alcoholic and his mother is utterly passive. His brother Nene fancies himself a '50s-style greaser. Only his stepsister Marie, an early women's libber shows the slightest inclination toward work. Were it not for her income, the family would be destitute. Jesus' brother Ernest is the family star because he earned a scholarship to a university in Paris. Jesus and Nene frequently drink at the grungy Elvis bar with their sex-crazy, paraplegiac friend Levrette. Conflicts arise when Jesus falls for the free-spirited supermarket cashier Mathilde, the sister of the insanely jealous Gerard. He and Jesus immediately become bitter rivals, something that earns the contempt of Mathilde. But the real trouble doesn't begin until someone savagely rapes Marie. Afterwards, Jesus and Nene team up to get revenge.