Not Everybody's Lucky Enough to Have Had Communist Parents

This hilarious hit from France will strike a ticklish chord in every red diaper baby. Set in the eventful autumn of 1958, when French political life was split into de Gaullist and communist camps, the film follows the political antics of Irene, a buoyant working-class wife and mother, as she pursues her naive yet endearing hope that communism will improve the world. As a concentration camp survivor liberated by Red Army troops, Irene's love for all things Soviet is complete and uncritical. Her pragmatic, apolitical husband Bernard, on the other hand, craves respite from the Marxist rhetoric, Russian music and tchotchkes that clog their tiny apartment. Most of all, Bernard would like his exuberant wife to pay as much attention to him as she does to The Cause. But when the Red Army Choir comes to Paris, Irene falls for the dashing and virile soloist, and realizes her wildest fantasies - including a bettering of her marriage. Told through the eyes of their impressionable ten-year old son, COMMUNIST PARENTS features radiant comedienne Josiane Balasko - the Lucille Ball of France- as Irene, and the wonderfully grumpy Maurice Benichou as Bernard.

"It's difficult to remember the hope once held by French Communists." Commented Director Jean-Jacques Zilbermann in response to audience questions after the Opening Night Castro Theatre screening. "It is possible today for us to laugh at the characters of the film. For me, the voices of the Red Army band were a translation of enthusiasm and hope. In my house as a child, it was played all the time, it was terrible. Today the Red Army band still sings but hope is no longer in their voices." "My father died 11 years ago, he never had a chance to see the film. When I told my mother I was going to make a film about her life she was very afraid and wanted to read the script which I refused. She had good reason to be afraid. She was so nervous before she first saw the film she took a sedative and slept through most of it. Later on after she was interviewed on radio and TV and she liked it. She was moved by the film and found my father again in the film. I too finally learned who my father was when making the film." Jean-Jacques runs the Max Linder theatre in Paris and is already hard at work on his second feature.