Merci la vie

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Merci la vie
Directed by	Bertrand Blier
Produced by	Jean-Louis Livi
Written by	Bertrand Blier
Starring	Charlotte Gainsbourg Anouk Grinberg
Cinematography	Philippe Rousselot
Editing by	Claudine Merlin
Distributed by	Canal+
Release date(s)	March 13, 1991
Running time	117 min
Country	France
Language	French
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IMDb profile

Merci la vie is a 1991 French film directed and written by Bertrand Blier. It won the César Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and was nominated for Best Film, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Writing and Best Editing.

[edit] Plot

Naive schoolgirl Camille Pelleveau meets the slightly older and more experienced Joëlle, a promiscuous woman who has just been thrown out of a car by her abusive boyfriend. Camille follows Joëlle as they go on a rampage where she discovers sex as they pick up men. Joëlle also shows Camille the darker side of life, as they start by crashing the men's cars and then decide to take on the whole town. However, medical researcher Dr. Marc Antoine Worms has invented a sexually transmitted disease and used Joëlle as a guinea pig by infecteing her with it, so that he could become famous as the discoverer of it's cure. Camille eventually learns about AIDS and fears she may have contracted the disease.

The story involves flashbacks, and in one sequence we learn that Camille's parents are feuding. Illogically, she tries to persuade them to reunite long enough for her conception to take place.