Les Bronzés font du ski (1979)
Directed by Patrice Leconte

Film Review

Such was the immense success of their first film outing, Les Bronzés (1978), that the comedy troupe Le Splendid immediately followed it up with an even more hilarious sequel, one that mercilessly satirises another French holiday fad - skiing holidays.  Despite his reservations about the first film (which he considered was somewhat beneath him) Patrice Leconte once again took on the directing duties, and managed to deliver what is arguably the funniest (and/or silliest) film of his entire career.

In contrast to its predecessor, Les Bronzés font du ski is far more preoccupied with extorting laughs than in making any profound statement about the French psyche.  It is far more typical of mainstream French comedy, although, curiously, it was somewhat less of a hit at the box office than the first film.  Whereas Les Bronzés drew a respectable 2.3 million spectators, its sequel barely notched up 1.5 million, although today it is the more popular of the two films.  Pierre Bachelet (famous for the Emmanuelle theme) provided the film with its catchy (and slightly over-repeated) theme, Just Because of You, sung by Jean-Denis Perez.

The appeal of Les Bronzés font du ski is not hard to see.  As well as some impressive visuals, which make full use of the stunning Val-d'Isère location, there is humour and hilarity an abundance.  The illustrious members of the Splendid troupe - which includes such familiar names as Gérard Jugnot, Christian Clavier, Josiane Balasko, Michel Blanc, Marie-Anne Chazel and Thierry Lhermitte - are all at their comedic best and this is the film where the ensemble is at most devastatingly effective, delivering laugh after laugh thanks to a knoch-out screenplay that is absolutely saturated with visual and scripted gags.  'Excusez-moi mais vous êtes en train d'uriner sur ma voiture,' Bruno Moynot observes when Gérard Jugnot is driven to extreme measures to fix his iced-up car door lock.  This is about as sophisticated as the humour gets.  Most of the gags are of a snow-themed nature, usually with the members of the cast coming a cropper whilst skiing or, more precisely, trying to ski.

Michel Blanc's increasingly desperate efforts to get something (anything with a functioning cardiovascular system) into bed provide another fool-proof running gag, which ends in the unlikely prospect of him waking up next to Thierry Lhermitte.  Christian Clavier could easily pass for a hyperactive Hugh Grant, especially when confronted with an anaesthetised pig in his surgery or robbed of sporting glory by a chronometric error.  Gérard Jugnot and Josiane Balasko are as hysterical as ever (in both senses of the term) and give conjugal disharmony a whole new meaning as they face up to the perils afforded by this unforgettable holiday from hell.

Two scenes from the film have passed into French comedy legend and no review can let them pass without comment.  In the first, our amiable friends are relieved to find shelter in a mountain chalet belonging to an Italian threesome, only to have their nocturnal repose utterly destroyed by the noisy bedroom escapades of their pathologically over-sexed hosts.  As amusing as this scene is, it is overshadowed by at least two orders of magnitude by a later one in which Balasko, Blanc and Chazel are saved from certain death on the Alps only to contend with an even grislier prospect - ingesting the noxious cuisine and diabolical beverage of a family of Neanderthal-like mountain yokels.  This infernal repast ends with the supreme gastronomic delight of a pickled toad in a palate-scorching liqueur.  Lovely.

After this insane alpine romp, the Splendid troupe envisaged a second sequel set in New York, but this fell by the wayside when the team opted to adapt another of their stage plays as Le Père Noël est une ordure (1982).  After parting company with his Splendid buddies, Patrice Leconte went on to direct a series of incredibly popular comedies starring Michel Blanc - Viens chez moi, j'habite chez une copine (1981), Ma femme s'appelle reviens (1982), Circulez y a rien à voir (1983), before gravitating to more serious fare, gaining a reputation as a serious auteur with with such films as Monsieur Hire (1989) and Le Mari de la coiffeuse (1990).  It would be another quarter of a century after their last collaboration before Leconte and the Splendid gang would join forces to deliver the third (and most commercially successful) Bronzés film - Bronzés 3: Amis pour la vie (2006).

Film Synopsis

A year has passed since Nathalie and Bernard came close to wrecking their marriage at a holiday club on the Ivory Coast.  Now that they have patched up their differences, they plan to spend a more agreeable vacation in the French alps, staying at their recently acquired timeshare apartment.  Here, they are delighted to run into some old friends they met on their previous holiday, including the inveterate womaniser Popeye and temperamental doctor Jérôme.  The former is less self-assured than he used to be and tries to pass himself off as the owner of a shop that sells winter sports equipment.  In truth, the store is owned by Popeye's wife and her lover, who pass up no opportunity to humiliate him for their own amusement.  At first sight, Jérôme would seem to have made a better go of things.  He has set up a successful medical practice in the area and has married Gigi, who is happily employed managing a pancake restaurant.  But, barely a year into their marriage, Jérôme and Gigi are already drifting apart, each unwilling to accommodate the other's whims and eccentricities.

Then Jean-Claude puts in an appearance, still intent as ever on finding the love of his life despite his staggering lack of tact and sex appeal.  He is so confident he will strike it lucky this time that he insists on having a room with a double bed at the hotel where he is staying.  Little does he know that the only person who will share his bed will be Popeye, after the latter is forcibly ejected from his own far from happy home.  It would seem that the provincial beautician Christiane at least has found happiness in her life, although this has taken the form of a married man who is considerably older than she is.  One day, the friends decide to take an off-piste skiing expedition, but this ends disastrously when the party's leader Popeye loses his way and they end up lost in a snowy wilderness with seemingly no hope of salvation.  Determined not to give in to despair, the male members of the expedition set off to find help whilst Nathalie and Gigi stay behind, stubbornly holding out against Jean-Claude's ham-fisted attempts at seduction...