À la conquête du bonheur


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  • Other title(s): Off to conquer happiness
  • Genre: Documentary film
  • Year: 1947
  • Runtime: 00:42:00
  • Description: Praiseful presentation of the results of Communist municipalities, in the Parisian suburbs and in the provinces, just before the municipal elections in October 1947. The film highlights the effectiveness of Communist municipalities in serving all categories of the French people. Communist municipalities are described as tackling the problems posed by the post-war period: housing and transport, food and leisure, training and education, health and public hygiene. // A laudatory presentation of the achievements of the communist municipalities, in the Parisian suburbs and in the provinces, on the eve of the municipal elections of October 1947. From Calais to Marseille, from Brittany to the Alpes-Maritimes, from the smallest villages to the largest cities, "A la conquête du bonheur" (Conquering Happiness) attempts to show - after an evocation of the Second World War - the efficiency of the Communist municipalities in serving all sectors of the French people. The communist town halls, as a whole, are described as taking on the problems posed by the post-war period: housing and transportation, supplies and leisure, training and education, health and public hygiene. The determination of the shock troops and the devotion of the communist militants compensated for the shortage and the blockages of the State and certain administrations. Dispensaries, day-care centers, summer camps, artificial beaches, lay patronages, training schools, stadiums, homes for the elderly, canteens, cooperative restaurants, a market and a municipal water service, a bus and tramway service, bus shelters, washhouses, road repairs, and canal sanitation.... all of these represent achievements that can be credited to the municipalities and communist militants. If the description of the urban world - and particularly the Parisian suburbs - is valued, a programme devoted to the creation of a water reservoir or to the municipal management of an olive mill also focuses on the rural world. Even if all age groups are the object of the attention of the communist municipalities - and they are all shown as being in solidarity with each other - the commentary clarifies what the image shows: in the end it is the young people who are the most favored. Work is praised and favored by collective achievements (sterilization and the preparation of baby bottles allow women to continue working). "A la conquête du bonheur" precisely outlines the contours of "municipal communism" in post-war France and the Reconstruction period. It also shows, in the eyes of a party that had long been excluded from the government, the importance of the 1947 municipal elections.
  • Keywords: Seconde Guerre mondiale / Libération / Abri / Allaitement du bébé / Alpes / Alpes-Maritimes (06) / Apprentissage / Art / Baignade / Balançoire / Banlieue / Banlieues rouges, « communisme municipal » / Banquet / Basket-ball / Bassin minier / Berlin / Bezons (95) / Biberon / Bois / Bombardement / Bébé / Cachin Marcel / Calais (62) / Campagne électorale / Canal / Cantine / Car / Carte géographique / Centre-Val de Loire / Chantier / Chantier de construction / Château (demeure) / Colonie de vacances / Communisme / Construction de bâtiment / Cour de récréation / Cours ménagers / Couture / Cristofol Jean / Crèche / Cuisine / Danse traditionnelle / Denain (59) / Dispensaire / Drapeau rouge (PCF) / Droit des femmes / Duclos Jacques / Déportation / Enfance / Enfance maltraitée / Escalier / Football / Forêt / Gap (05) / Gastronomie / Gennevilliers (92) / Goûter / Grandel Jean / Grasse (06) / Gravure (art) / Gymnastique sportive / HLM / Handball / Huile / Hôpital / Industrie du bois / Infirmière / Infrastructure de santé / Instrument de musique / Ivry-sur-Seine (94) / Jeu / Jeu d'enfant / L'Humanité (journal) / Lac naturel / Lait / Lavoir / Limoges (87) / Marché / Marrane Georges / Marseille (13) / Marty André / Maternité / Maurette Marc / Mauvais Léon / Mer / Modélisme / Moulin / Métallurgie / Noisy-le-Sec (93) / Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde (basilique) ( (13) / Nouveau né / Nîmes (30) / Oradour-sur-Glane (87) / Paris (75) / Patronage laïc / Personne âgée / Pesée du bébé / Plage / Politique des transports / Politique du logement / Port / Pratique sportive / Précarité / Préparation du repas / Reconstruction / Romainville (93) / Ronde / Rugby / Ruine / Réseau routier / Résistance / Sabotage / Saint-Martin-du-Var (06) / Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon (69) / Santé / Santé publique / Semard Pierre / Sieste / Sport / Stade / Système de santé / Thorez Maurice / Tillon Charles / Tirs (guerre) / Toulon (83) / Tour Eiffel (monument) / Paris (75) / Tramway / Tricot / Troisième âge / Vaillant-Couturier Paul / Vieillesse / Villejuif (94) / Volley-ball / Vénissieux (69) / Ébénisterie / École de musique / École maternelle / École technique / Élection / Électricité (condition de vie) / Établissement d'enseignement / (construction) site / harbour / suburb / village / school / class (education) / institute for social welfare / stadium / sports ground / hospital / summer / winter / doctor / nurse / convalescence / wounded / prisoner / soldier / construction worker / pedestrian / elderly persons / children / male / female / refugee / shopping street / market hall / square / street / construction vehicle / bus / omnibus / train / tractor / eating / cornerstone ceremony / manual work / manufacturing process / queue / speech / demonstration / rally / resistance / bombing / bombardment / combat/fight / seaside / forest / countryside / under construction / ruins / barracks / infrastructure / public housing / mine / playground / photography / banner / communism / VICTOR-E project / Maurice Thorez / Charles Tillon / Jean Cristofol / Paul Vaillant-Couturier / Marcel Cachin / Léon Mauvais / André Marty / Georges Marrane / Jean Grandel / Berlin (prise du Reichstag par l'Armée rouge) / Calais / Marseille / Ivry-sur-Seine / Sainte-Foi-lès-Lyon / Gap / Saint-Martin-du-Var / Noisy-Le-Sec / Romainville / Gennevilliers / Villejuif / Oradour / Vénissieux / Bezons / Toulon / Denain / Limoges / Paris (le génie de la Bastille), France
  • Provider: Ciné-Archives
  • Rights: In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted / Ciné-Archives
  • Colour: Black & White
  • Director: Marc Maurette
  • Sound: With sound
  • Language: fr