In this charming meditation on the struggle for individuality, director Otar Iosseliani hints at an underlying despair in the face of man's enslavement by machines. In a small French town, Vincent (Jacques Bidou) lives an unfulfilling existence, enacting a daily routine of punching the clock at the factory and coming home to an indifferent family. When one day he deviates from the daily grind and heads to Venice to follow his dream of becoming a painter, he sets off a string of events that put him in contact with a slew of eccentric characters. These include his uncle (Iosseliani), a fallen noble who strives to impress; a priest who spies on the female members of his flock; and a nosy postman. The story is presented with a great deal of physical humor that is evocative of Jacques Tati (MON ONCLE) in many ways, but the elements of satire and the suggestion of despair--as well as the memorable characters who populate the tale--render it a paean to individuality in the face of automated drudgery and middle-class inertia.