Film Review
Le Distrait was Pierre
Richard's first important film, the one which made him a household name
in France and established a comedy persona that would delight cinema
audiences for the next decade and a half. Prior to this, Richard
had distinguished himself in supporting roles in a handful of films -
most notably Yves Robert's
Alexandre le bienheureux (1968)
- but this was his big break-through. Richard not only stars in
the film, he also directed it and co-authored the script, basing the
main protagonist on the absent-minded character Ménalque from
Jean de La Bruyère's 17th century satire
Caractères.
Le Distrait attracted an audience
of 1.4 million in France and was one of the most popular films of
1970. Through the success of this film and others in the same
vein, including the hit
Le Grand blond avec une chaussure noire
(1972), Pierre Richard rapidly became one of the leading French comic
actors of the decade, and one of the very select few to find fame
outside his native France.
Le Distrait is the
quintessential Pierre Richard film. It doesn't have much in the
way of a plot and essentially it just consists of a series of loosely
connected comic escapades, which clearly take their inspiration from
the era of silent comedy. The spirits of Mack Sennett and Buster
Keaton can be felt throughout the film as Richard happily plunders
their gags and technique, reworking these to suit his own distinctive
comic approach. Pierre Richard's comedy persona was the original
Mr Bean, admittedly far more human and likeable than the Rowan Atkinson
grotesque, but just as ill-fated and accident prone. Richard's
star burned brightly for a while but was all but extinguished by the
mid-1980s, when his brand of inoffensive slapstick suddenly went out of
fashion and tacky vulgarity took over.
Pierre Richard's glory years may be long behind him, but he maintains a
visible presence in French cinema and is still considered something of
a cult figure in France. Films like
Le Distrait continue to have a
hugely broad appeal, so evocative of the era in which they were made
and yet so ineffably daft and vibrant that they also have a timeless
quality. Aided and abetted by the incomparable Bernard Blier (the
unassailable godfather of French comedy) and the stunning
Marie-Christine Barrault, Pierre Richard turns in one of his craziest,
slickest and most enjoyable films, a genuine classic of French comedy.
© James Travers 2012
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Next Pierre Richard film:
Les Malheurs d'Alfred (1972)
Film Synopsis
Pierre Malaquet is a likeable young man but he is hopelessly
absent-minded and cannot sustain a train of thought for more than a few
seconds. Despite this affliction, Pierre is confident he can make
a name for himself in the sphere of advertising and it is with
unbridled enthusiasm that he begins working for Alexandre Guiton, one
of France's leading advertising executives. Pierre does not know
that Guiton only gave him the job to please his mistress, Glycia, who
happens to be Pierre's mother. It soon becomes apparent that
Pierre is not well-suited for the career he has chosen. Most of
his branding ideas revolve around death and extreme human suffering, a
novel approach but one which has yet to gain public approval.
When Pierre creates havoc at a house party given by Guiton's most
important client, his boss banishes him to a basement room where he can
do no further harm, or so he thinks. Mr Klerdene, a customer who
is even more scatterbrained than Pierre, ends up in the same room,
mistaking it for Guiton's office. Klerdene offers Pierre a
contract to promote his new brand of toothpaste and Pierre has an idea
for a totally new form of advertising involving ordinary people in the
street. When the approach proves successful the first time round,
Pierre tries it again, promoting a brand of bags for plastic bags by
getting people to break eggs over each other's heads.
Pierre's next ghoulish idea for a television commercial is far less
successful, however...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.