Les Sanguinaires on AllMovie

One of eight medium-length films sponsored by France's Channel 7 television network designed to commemorate or comment upon the upcoming millennium, Laurent Cantet's Les Sanguinaires represents France. It is set in December, 1999 and centers upon Francois, a Parisian travel agent who decides to travel to the title island (located off the coast of Corsica) to get away from the celebratory chaos in Paris. Traveling with a few friends and their many children, Francois arrives upon the island on Christmas day and must wait five hours for Stephane the caretaker to show up. His lateness puts the fussy Francois in a bad mood that does not improve when he discovers that the house has no heat and that his bedding is damp. The others decide to make the best of things and enjoy themselves. They find Stephane charming, which only makes Francois even madder. As New Year's approaches, Francois gets more and more tense. The story's underlying message remarks upon the protagonist's inability to escape the trappings of humanity he supposedly loathes.