Review: Fill ‘Er Up With Super
Blu-ray: Fill ‘Er Up With Super (1976)
Klouk (Bernard Crombey) is a car salesman and already has a rocky relationship with his wife, but when his boss insists that he has to deliver a Chevrolet station wagon across France from Lille to the Cote d’Azur to his rich client, thereby missing an important family event, his marital stature begins to crumble.
Taking his friend Philippe (Xavier Saint-Macary) with him for company, their journey slowly becomes more unpredictable after picking up hitchhiker Charles (Etienne Chicot) and his friend Daniel (Patrick Bouchitey).
The narrative focuses on the relationship between the 4 men as they make their way across France, with long conversations in the car and in cafes. These intimate scenes between them all give an insight into each characters personality, their likes and dislikes, tolerance for for each other, and slowly (very slowly) a budding acceptance for each other which then blossoms into a friendship, despite all the misgivings and misbehaviours they’ve all encountered along the way.
Director Alain Cavalier takes a “fly on the wall” approach with his camerawork and gives the viewer an almost voyeuristic pleasure in observing these 4 men as they clash with each other both physically and mentally during the early stages of their journey along the roads of France and their journey to discover who each of them really are.
There were times when I wanted something to happen rather than more introspective dialogue between them all, but Fill ‘er Up with Super isn’t about “things happening”, it’s about what people go through and what they talk about to make those things happen.
Interspersed throughout the 97 minute running time are moments of pathos and reflection, outbursts of anger, and often some classic male immature humour, which at one point leads to the car being pulled over to one side of the road so that they can all collapse to the ground laughing.
As bonds are made between them it becomes more important that each one of them completes their journey, whether that be delivering the car or more personal goals. Whether they manage to do that, you’ll have to watch and find out.
As in with any long road trip, Fill ‘er Up with Super has highs and lows along the way, but I was satisfied by the time the end credits rolled and the journey was over.
Limited Edition Special Features:
- 2K restoration of the film from the original negative
- Original uncompressed stereo PCM audio
- Friends First and Foremost: An interview with Bernard Crombey – in this video interview the star discusses his work on the film, his collaborators and his career (2019, 28 mins)
- Three interview short films with the cast directed by Cavalier: My Wife Lives in Fear with Etienne Chicot, Bernard Crombey and Patrick Bouchitey (2011, 4 mins), It’s a Full House with Bernard Crombey (2011, 6 mins) and The King of the Bottle with Patrick Bouchitey (2011, 8 mins)
- An appreciation of Fill ‘Er Up with Super by Cahiers du Cinema deputy editor Charlotte Garson (2022)
- Newly translated English subtitles
- Reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original posters
- Limited Edition booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic and author Murielle Joudet, a newly translated contemporary article on the film and an extract of an interview with Cavalier
- Limited edition of 2000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
Review by Dave from a disc kindly supplied by Radiance Films.