Un idiot à Paris (1967)

Goubi, the village idiot of the small village of Jaligny in the Allier, dreams of discovering Paris and the Eiffel Tower. One day, after getting him drunk, the two Grafouillières brothers, market gardeners from his village, take him to Paris, thinking they are playing a good joke on him. He wakes up there the next morning. Disoriented, he gets lost in Les Halles, panicked by the traffic lights changing from green to red. Then he naively meets a red-haired prostitute nicknamed “La Fleur,” who takes him in her car. But they don’t hit it off, and she throws him out. Wandering through the bloody aisles of the meat pavilion, he meets Monsieur Dessertine, the owner of a wholesale meat business, nicknamed the “emperor of meat.” Like Goubi, he grew up in public care. He is uncompromising with his staff and everyone around him, but fiercely defends anyone who grew up in public care. He takes Goubi under his wing and gives him his business card, along with his unlimited protection. Goubi wants to make his dream come true: to see the Eiffel Tower and the Champ-de-Mars. There he meets a student from the Latin Quarter, a bit of a crook, who wants to flog him various books. The student wants Goubi to buy him a coffee. At the café, Goubi explains that he plays music with oil drums. He is arrested by the police for disturbing the peace. In police custody, he meets “La Fleur” again. She confides in him her love of animals, flowers, and nature. In turn, Goubi speaks movingly to her about Charlotte, his mare, and the vast plains of his Bourbonnais region. “La Fleur” is deeply moved. Dessertine’s business card gets Goubi released from custody. “La Fleur” takes Goubi home, washes and dresses him. She no longer considers herself young, is tired of her profession, and has comfortable savings. Goubi knows of a farm for sale in his village, which he describes as very beautiful. She proposes marriage and a return to the land. He is left speechless, but accepts. He returns to his village at the wheel of a sports car, promising his beloved a life in the open air.