---
title: 'Picnic on the Grass (1959)'
type: 'film'
director: 'Jean Renoir'
released: '1959-11-11'
runtime_minutes: 91
genres:
  - 'Comedy'
countries:
  - 'France'
canonical: 'https://cinepixo.com/movies/picnic-on-the-grass-1959'
review_count: 0
imdb: 'https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052765/'
publisher: 'CinePixo'
---

# Picnic on the Grass (1959)

1959 · 91 min · Comedy · France

Original title: Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe

## Synopsis

Picnic on the Grass is a 1959 French comedy film written and directed by Jean Renoir, starring Paul Meurisse, Fernand Sardou and Catherine Rouvel. It is known in the United Kingdom by its original title or in translation as Lunch on the Grass. A satire on contemporary science and politics, it revolves around a prominent biologist and politician who wants to replace sex with artificial insemination, but begins to reconsider when a picnic he organizes is interrupted by the forces of nature. The film brings up issues of modernity, human reproduction, youth and European integration. It ridicules rationalist idealism and celebrates a type of materialism it associates with classical mythology and ancient Greek philosophy.

## Credits

- **Director:** [Jean Renoir](https://cinepixo.com/people/jean-renoir)
- **Screenplay:** [Jean Renoir](https://cinepixo.com/people/jean-renoir)
- **Original Music Composer:** [Joseph Kosma](https://cinepixo.com/people/joseph-kosma)

## Cast

- [Marguerite Cassan](https://cinepixo.com/people/marguerite-cassan)
- [Georges Yu](https://cinepixo.com/people/georges-yu)
- [Jacqueline Huet](https://cinepixo.com/people/jacqueline-huet)
- [Charles Blavette](https://cinepixo.com/people/charles-blavette)
- [Henri Arius](https://cinepixo.com/people/henri-arius)
- [Régine Blaess](https://cinepixo.com/people/regine-blaess)
- [Robert Chandeau](https://cinepixo.com/people/robert-chandeau)
- [Pierre Leproux](https://cinepixo.com/people/pierre-leproux)
- [Hélène Duc](https://cinepixo.com/people/helene-duc)
- [Catherine Rouvel](https://cinepixo.com/people/catherine-rouvel)
- [Jacqueline Morane](https://cinepixo.com/people/jacqueline-morane)
- [Michel Péricard](https://cinepixo.com/people/michel-pericard)
- [Fernand Sardou](https://cinepixo.com/people/fernand-sardou)
- [Micheline Gary](https://cinepixo.com/people/micheline-gary)
- [Paulette Dubost](https://cinepixo.com/people/paulette-dubost)

## Criticism on CinePixo

No reviews published yet.

Source: https://cinepixo.com/movies/picnic-on-the-grass-1959
Film facts: Wikidata (Q1123983); synopsis from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Reviews, themes and notes are the work of this site's members.