La Carapate (1978) - film review

May 1968.  Sentenced to death for murder, Martial Gaulard is being held in a prison in Lyons.  Convinced of his innocence, his lawyer – Jean-Philippe Duroc – is sure he can get the death sentence commuted by “presidential grace”.  However, whilst visiting his client, there is a prison breakout.   In the confusion, Martial escapes, leaving Jean-Philippe to be blamed for instigating the breakout.  Determined to protect his client at all costs, Jean-Philippe hurries after Martial and clings to him like a limpet.  Pursued by the police, the two men are caught up in a series of adventures as they hasten across France…

This madcap comedy, an inspired parody of the American road movie, is the first collaboration of popular comedian Pierre Richard and director Gérard Oury.  The two men would work together, with just as much success, on Oury’s subsequent film, Le Coup du parapluie (1980).  Here, Richard is partnered with another well-known actor, Victor Lanoux, with whom he performed a cabaret act in the early 1960s.  The Richard-Lanoux works well enough, but perhaps not quite as well as the legendary pairing of Bourvil and Louis de Funès in Oury’s earlier Le Corniaud (1964) and La Grande vadrouille (1966).

La Carapate is interesting because it shows both Oury’s strengths and weaknesses as a director.  On the plus side, the film has a sense of scale and relentless energy for which Oury is renowned – quite the opposite of most French film comedies which tend to be modest, understated affairs, relying more on witty dialogue than extravagant comedy stunts.  La Carapate is replete with visual jokes, crazy chases, and some totally mad comedy situations – all marvellously realised, with Pierre Richard somehow managing to drain every last drop of comic potential from whatever sequence he appears in.  Although it feels less epic than some of Oury’s films, the May 1968 backdrop does give the film a sense of scale, even if the well-choreographed and skillfully shot riot scenes seem a bit out of place, belonging more to a conventional drama than to the tail-end of a frantic action comedy.

On the down side, the film lacks a coherent storyline and if you try and follow the narrative you quickly realise there isn’t one.  This is one of those films where you have to switch of your logic chip and just allow yourself to be entertained.  It’s vaudeville after all, not Visconti.   Another black mark which is harder to ignore is the stomach churningly bad moment of sentimentality when Lanoux gets his girl near the end of the film.  Oury isn’t so good when it comes to conveying real human emotion, and when he tries the result is nearly always horrible.  The characterisation is pretty weak as well, with virtually every character scripted and played as a “broad brush” caricature – not that that matters one iota.  Oury’s mission is not to offer us a convincing slice of life, but to give us as much entertainment value as he can – and he here succeeds admirably, aided and abetted by one of the funniest men in France, Pierre Richard.

© James Travers 2006

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