Le Concierge (1973) - film review

A brilliant university graduate, Christophe Mérignac, has yet to find a job worthy of his talents.  One day, he saves a young woman, Fabienne, from a night-time assault.  In return, she takes him back to her apartment to show her gratitude.  The next morning, Christophe learns that the apartment has a vacancy for a concierge and decides to take the job himself.  He soon makes himself indispensable to everyone in the building, although he has a knack of turning every situation to his advantage…

This gentle farce has some entertaining sequences but is let down by a generally lacklustre script and some unimaginative direction.  It boasts a respectable cast, but these talents are largely wasted.  Michel Galabru does his best to hammer some life into the anaemic comedy, but it’s pretty much a thankless task.   Bernard Le Coq’s portrayal of the young concierge (an intellectual with sickeningly irresistible sexual magnetism) is distinctly antipathetic, although his implausible seduction scenes become more amusing as the film progresses.  More memorable is Daniel Prévost’s outrageously camp caricature of an avant-garde musician; his character is by far the most interesting and amusing thing about this film, and is the main reason for watching it.

© James Travers 2006

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