Simone Barbes or Virtue

Simone is a ticket seller in a porn movie theater. She and a friend pass the time by talking to and about the eccentric and petty perverted theatergoers who, with their heads bowed forward, walk in and out of the cinema darkness. Later, she flits aimlessly around the Parisian nightlife. Humor, warmth, neon lights and city blues are the main ingredients of this overlooked gem from 1980s France. “A street girl, without a home and without a man, at home everywhere, transforms closed, oppressive places into intimate places, temporary homes where she digs her hole, furnishes her space,” Cahiers du cinéma wrote at the film's premiere.

Directed by: Marie-Claude Treilhou
Starring: Ingrid Bourgoin, Martine Simonet, Michel Delahaye
Country/year: France, 1980
Running time: 76 min.
Formato: DCP
Language: English subtitles
Age limit: Allowed for children over 15
Original title: Simone Barbès ou la vertu

Part of the series: The Many Lives of the Cinema
For 30 years, the cinema halls in Gothersgade have been the beating heart of Cinemateket. We celebrate this with a series of films set in and around cinemas, depicting life in the hall, the foyer and behind the scenes. Welcome to the cinema!