Escalier C

Tacchella's film centres on the inhabitants of one staircase in a 14th arrondissement apartment block. A dipso, a widow and a novelist manqué all take second place to a lugubriously handsome art critic (Renucci), who is cynical, obnoxious and very rude to women. It takes the death of a neighbour to effect his moral reawakening, whereupon he declares his intention to move in with a caring gay and makes a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Even if the fact that the film treats indulgence in all its manifestations doesn't quite excuse its total implausibility, it's superbly acted and contrives to be both amusing and affecting.