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).
© James Travers 2019
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Patrice Leconte film:
Viens chez moi, j'habite chez une copine (1981)
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...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.