Coming to us from director Alain Cavalier, the 1975 film Fill ‘Er Up With Super (or Le Plein de Super if you want to use the French title) follows a pair of friends heading out on a road trip in an attempt to forget about their worries and woes. Along the way, they are joined by two younger men who initially make the trip a bit of a living hell, although they all eventually end up being in the same existential boat as their masculinity identity and attitudes are brought into question. At the time this was Cavalier’s first film in roughly seven years, following the director’s fourth feature film La Chamade which was released in 1968.

Now I’ve always been a bit on the fence when it comes to the concept of the road trip movie. On the one hand, you have the chance to tell some really intricate character narratives and studies, think Wild At Heart, Logan, or Queen and Slim. However you also have the flip side of this which consists of the pantheon of truly dreadful comedies; see Fanboys, RV or the creatively named Road Trip. Luckily, Cavalier’s film falls into the first category and we get some really interesting bits of characterisation form the four lead characters. The central focus is on how the idea of masculinity actually effects each of these characters, and Cavalier does a good job at making each guy feel like their own character. Klouk (Bernard Crombey) must deal with being sterile and unable to have kids which pairs well with Charles (Etienne Chicot) being a father with a seemingly troubled relationship with his wife. Philippe (Xavier Saint-Macary) is a singer who just can’t sing like he used to, giving us a fun moment in a church where he is told to shut up by a child. There’s this overwhelming sense that their masculinity has somehow held them back, that it has forced them to act in this overly macho way in order to survive in a society where they might slowly be becoming aliens to.

Structuring this development around a car journey feels pretty appropriate, as we can have that simplistic mirroring of plot and characterisation which makes these types of films quite satisfying to view. Although I think this film’s greatest flaw is that that mirroring doesn’t quite match up as Cavalier’s characterisation is often uneven and the general pacing of the film, which is just over an hour and a half mind you, is glacial to the point that by the time the film does begin to pick up in pace you might have mentally checked out. The characters are interesting, but not that interesting. You’ll have noticed that earlier I only mentioned the personalities of three of the four main characters, and that is because there is Daniel (Patrick Bouchitey) who I couldn’t tell you anything about at all. In fact Klouk really has nothing going for him until that final revelation. Perhaps this speaks to a grander point about how macho male identities are homogeneous and indistinct to the point that it makes men these lifeless shells who just dispense sex jokes when a small switch is flicked. If that is the point then the film is genius, however that point seems to be made at the compromise of narrative agency pacing.

As far as the film goes, I had a relatively good time with Cavalier’s road film. There is an interesting core here where masculinity is assessed through this gang of seemingly lifeless shells of men who try so hard to be something their expected. It is a shame that the film just doesn’t give you the satisfaction of character growth needed to justify some really poor pacing throughout. 

As for the special features of this fancy new Blu-ray release, well we’ve got a pretty good spread of material. Firstly we have a 2019 interview from star of the film Bernard Crombey which goes into his experiences on the film as well as his extensive work with other collaborators and wider career. Crombey comes across as pretty charismatic throughout, he’s got a good candid personality which makes for an interview with a good pace and energy.  Next we get a trio of interview short films directed by Cavalier and featuring three of the principle cast from Fill ‘Er Up With Super. These all come in at under ten minutes each and are shot with this disorientating extreme close-up style, it feels really intimate and the conversations with the actors often focus on the mundane. The third shirt, The King of The Bottle, has this brilliant little sequence of actor Patrick Bouchitey laughing along with this toy dog and it all feels both setup and natural in this slightly uncanny way. Finally we get a video essay Charlotte Garson, current deputy editor of Cahier du Cinema. This was my favourite of the features as it ended up shaping my appreciation in new ways by focusing on the ideas of immaturity but also 'an equality through a communist'(Cavalier’s words there) style of shooting where every cast member and crew member was paid exactly the same. This mentality can be seen throughout the film’s narrative and honestly, I don’t think I would have even thought of the film in this way if not for this appreciation segment.

The Blu-ray will also be accompanied by a booklet of new writings on the film, as well as a new translation of some contemporary writing about the film and interviews with Cavalier.

On the whole, I wish I liked Cavalier’s film a little bit more than I did because the premise and style is something I’m all about. I just think the pacing is what really kills this as the character work seems to be moving at a pace which can’t quite drive the narrative. The characters have these quite profound moments of characterisation but often end up blurring together often at the detriment of Klouk and Daniel, who end up being forgotten. The new scan of the film looks outstanding, I’m always impressed at how well old film stock cleans up and this is no exception. Gorgeous dusk colours pop throughout, and the darker colours look great in the interior scenes and grey skyed finale. The extras on offer here cover all you’d want to know about the production and interpretation of the film, plus those Cavalier-directed interview shorts help paint a vivid picture of who the actors themselves are. I will definitely go back to this one at some point because I can tell this is going to be a film which rewards those rewatches.