A young man (Tarielashvili) of rich birth leaves his family chateau every morning and goes to work washing dishes and cleaning windows in Paris. He pursues a pretty waitress (Hainque), but she prefers a poor worker (Bas) posing as a well-to-do man about town. The matriarch (Lavina) flies to and from the chateau in a helicopter, leaving her boozy husband (Iosseliani) to play with firearms and a toy train. Just one happy family!

Georgian born, France dwelling Iosseliani uses a fly-on-the-wall approach to observe a cross-section of Parisian citizens, including homeless winos and the haute bourgeoisie. The director proves himself a master of tracking shots as his fluid camera connects the desultory vignettes. Social critique (Madame entertains with a stork on her shoulders!) and a lack of dialogue link Iosseliani to Bunuel, Renoir and Tati, but there’s a contemporary, political subtext to his work. Absurdity meets social realism in this loopy take on supposedly “civilized” society.