Les Bronzés font du ski (1979) - film review

One year on from their eventful meeting at a holiday club on the Ivory Coast, six disparate characters find themselves reunited in the French Alps.   The nouvelle-riche couple Bernard and Nathalie arrive for a winter skiing holiday, and are not pleased to find their room is still being occupied.  Jean-Claude checks into the same hotel and demands a room with a double bed, so confident is he that he will at last find a woman who will sleep with him.  Jerôme works as a mountain doctor, occupying himself mainly with attractive young women who injure themselves whilst skiing, to the chagrin of his wife Gigi who toils away all day in her pancake restaurant.  That leaves Popeye, the gigolo skiing instructor who finds himself homeless when his ex-wife throws him out.  After some eventful skiing lessons, the six friends set out for an off-piste exploration of the Alps and soon realise they are totally lost.  As the others set off to find help, Jean-Claude volunteers to remain with Gigi and Nathalie, sure that his hour has come...

After the success of Les Bronzés, the magnificent comedy troupe L’équipe du Splendid made a triumphant return in this laugh-a-minute sequel which parodies the French people’s obsession with skiing holidays.  The breath-taking beauty of the Val d’Isère setting combined with some hilarious one-liners and great comic situations makes this sequel at least as good, if not better than, the first Bronzés film.

Jean-Claude’s increasing desperate attempts to "make a conclusion" (his phrase for "getting his leg over") provide the film’s funniest moments, thanks to a splendid (every pun intended) performance from Michel Blanc.  Other moments to relish are: the scene where the six skiing friends, arriving at a mountain chalet, try to distract themselves in inane conversation whilst three hot-blooded Italians amuse themselves in an adjacent room, and the scene where three of the party subject themselves to the novel cuisine of some very peculiar mountain folk.  Fans of the cult actors Thierry Lhermitte and Christian Clavier should not be disappointed, as both performers give great entertainment value.  This may not be a very profound or intelligent film, but it is fun to watch and includes some truly memorable jokes (all in the worst possible taste).

© James Travers 2003

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