7.3
Viewer Rating
Combines user and critic ratings from four sources
Romance, Comedy, Drama • 1978 • 108 min
Get Out Your Handkerchiefs (1978)
Get Out Your Handkerchiefs (1978)
Overview
Bertrand Blier's 1978 French comedy follows a depressed woman whose husband tries everything to lift her spirits, including finding her a lover. The film sits Mixed because it pulls in opposite directions. On one side, it frames female desire and personal autonomy as priorities worth pursuing outside conventional marriage, a position that reads as socially progressive. On the other, its resolution centers on a sexual relationship between an adult woman and a 13-year-old boy, which contemporary audiences and critics read very differently than French New Wave-era viewers did. The film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, making its cultural footprint genuinely complex rather than simply provocative.
Starring Cast
Gérard Depardieu • Carole Laure • Patrick Dewaere
Where to watch
Rating & Dimensions
Bias Rating
Analyzing...
Center
Political: Leans Left
Diversity: Low
Family Values: Strongly Progressive
Viewer Rating
7.3
Overview
Bertrand Blier's 1978 French comedy follows a depressed woman whose husband tries everything to lift her spirits, including finding her a lover. The film sits Mixed because it pulls in opposite directions. On one side, it frames female desire and personal autonomy as priorities worth pursuing outside conventional marriage, a position that reads as socially progressive. On the other, its resolution centers on a sexual relationship between an adult woman and a 13-year-old boy, which contemporary audiences and critics read very differently than French New Wave-era viewers did. The film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, making its cultural footprint genuinely complex rather than simply provocative.
Starring Cast
Gérard Depardieu • Carole Laure • Patrick Dewaere
Where to watch
Detailed Bias Analysis
Analyzing...
Center
Primary
Political: Leans Left
Confidence: Medium
The film's central problem addresses a woman's profound unhappiness within conventional relationships, and its championed solution involves a radical departure from societal norms and taboos to achieve individual fulfillment, aligning with a left-leaning perspective on social liberation.
Diversity: Low
Confidence: Medium
The movie features a predominantly white cast, consistent with its time period and origin. Its narrative explores unconventional relationships and societal norms but does not explicitly critique traditional identities or center on DEI themes.
Secondary
Family Values: Strongly Progressive
Confidence: High
The film strongly endorses progressive family values by depicting and celebrating highly unconventional relationships, including polyamory, fluid gender roles, and a transgressive sexual relationship between a child and an adult that forms the core of a new family unit, completely subverting traditional norms.
LGBTQ: N/A
Confidence: High
The film does not feature any identifiable LGBTQ+ characters or themes. The narrative focuses entirely on unconventional heterosexual relationships and the exploration of desire between men and women, including a controversial relationship involving a minor. No elements related to queer identity are present in the storyline or character arcs.
Trans: N/A
Confidence: Medium
The film does not feature any identifiable transsexual characters or themes. The narrative centers on a woman's profound sadness and the attempts by men to alleviate it, leading to a controversial relationship with a young boy, without addressing gender identity.
Female Combat: N/R
The movie does not contain any action or adventure elements.
Gender Swap: No
Confidence: High
The film is an original screenplay, meaning all characters were created for this specific production. There are no prior canonical or historical versions of these characters with established genders to be swapped.
Race Swap: No
Confidence: High
The film is an original French screenplay from 1978, not an adaptation of prior material or a historical biopic. All characters were created for this specific film, meaning there is no pre-existing canonical or historical race to deviate from.
Hinduism: N/A
Confidence: High
Not depicted in the film.
Viewer Rating Breakdown
User Ratings
6.9
6.6
Critic Ratings
8.3
N/A
More Like This
Leans Traditional
7.1
Beau Pere
(1981)
Political: Center
Diversity: Low
Leans Traditional
7.2
Romantics Anonymous
(2010)
Political: Center
Diversity: Low
Center
6.9
Jane Austen Wrecked My Life
(2025)
Political: Leans Left
Diversity: Low
Leans Traditional
8.4
The Young Girls of Rochefort
(1967)
Political: Center
Diversity: Low
Leans Traditional
8.4
The Artist
(2011)
Political: Center
Diversity: Low
Leans Traditional
8.2
Cyrano de Bergerac
(1990)
Political: Center
Diversity: Low
Leans Progressive
7.2
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
(2025)
Political: Center
Diversity: Moderate
LGBTQ: Positive
Leans Traditional
7.3
Bed and Board
(1970)
Political: Center
Diversity: Low
Leans Progressive
7.1
The Spanish Apartment
(2002)
Political: Leans Left
Diversity: Moderate
LGBTQ: Positive
Leans Progressive
6.9
Russian Dolls
(2005)
Political: Center
Diversity: Moderate
LGBTQ: Positive
Leans Traditional
7.2
Priceless
(2006)
Political: Center
Diversity: Low
Leans Traditional
7.5
Summer Things
(2002)
Political: Center
Diversity: Low
LGBTQ: Neutral
Leans Traditional
8.2
French Cancan
(1955)
Political: Center
Diversity: Low
Center
7.6
Ridicule
(1996)
Political: Leans Left
Diversity: Low
Not Rated
6.7
Drifting Laurent
(2025)
Political: Not Rated
Diversity: Low
LGBTQ: Positive
Leans Traditional
7.4
A Good Marriage
(1982)
Political: Center
Diversity: Low
Leans Traditional
7.2
The French Kissers
(2009)
Political: Center
Diversity: Low
Analyze
6.6
The Party
(1980)
Leans Traditional
6.8
Welcome to the Sticks
(2008)
Political: Center
Diversity: Low
Leans Traditional
6.9
Ruby & Quentin
(2003)
Political: Center
Diversity: Low