Gigot

Gigot is a mute janitor living in a squalid Parisian building in the Ménilmontant district. He endures condescension from neighbors but remains kind and protective toward children and animals. His days are punctuated by a fascination with funeral processions he cannot help but cry along with.

After being beaten in a pub, Colette and her young daughter Nicole huddle in a doorway seeking shelter. Gigot brings them to his dim basement to offer food, warmth, and a bed. Exhausted yet grateful, Colette accepts his help.

Inside the basement, Gigot grows fond of Nicole and is struck by her ignorance of church and God. He tries to explain faith but struggles, even punching himself to illustrate, leaving Nicole worried and trying to comfort him with a gesture of reassurance.

Gigot entertains Nicole with his old gramophone and feeds her, even dressing as a waiter to coax a smile from the girl. He also steps in to protect Colette's dignity when a man pays for her services on a bench near the merry-go-round. The confrontation leaves him battered by the aggressors.

Colette pressures Gigot to prove he can provide a stable life, giving him only an hour to show his worth. Seizing a moment, he spots an unattended bakery till and takes money to secure a future for them.

With stolen funds, Gigot buys clothes for Colette and Nicole, a straw hat, and even a shave for himself. He treats them to a grand meal at a restaurant, imagining a life where they are cared for.

The next morning, two bumbling bureaucrats threaten to deport Gigot to a home for the feeble-minded. The bakery discovers the theft, and Colette returns to find Gigot and Nicole missing, suggesting they have vanished into a hidden part of the city.

Gigot and Nicole hide in an abandoned basement chamber beneath the streets, and Gigot entertains her with dancing and song. Their carefree play is interrupted when the roof timbers threaten to collapse and Nicole nearly faints.

After a frantic escape from the startled crowd, Gigot rushes toward the church to fetch a doctor for Nicole. On the way back, he is spotted by the angry mob and flees, clutching the gramophone he saved for Nicole.

In the chase, the gramophone falls onto the conveyor of a coal loader, and Gigot climbs inside to retrieve it despite warning cries. The device dumps him and the gramophone down a chute into the river, while a crowd applauds the failed rescue and his hat floats away.

Believing Gigot to be dead, the locals organize a solemn funeral, burying only his hat as a stand-in. Gigot, however, has survived and hides nearby, watching the procession with a mix of sorrow and irony.

From his hiding place, Gigot witnesses the makeshift funeral and realizes the procession is for him. He is spotted by the crowd, and the chase begins anew as they try to accost him once more.