Film Review
Tête à claques was the first of four films that the prolific
actor of stage and screen Francis Perrin wrote and directed in the early-to-mid
1980s. Although the films were not badly received in their day (the
first two drew an audience of almost two million), none
has stood the test of time particularly well. Perrin's idea of comedy
is dated, and yet his skill as an actor
and imagination as a writer more than make up for his deficiencies
as a director. It is fair to say that Perrin's screen career pales
in comparison with his stage work, for which he is most revered. You wonder
how such a talented and versatile actor could have made so modest an impact
on the cinema. Some people are just better suited for the theatre.
With the exception of the last film he wrote,
Le Débutant (1986) (which
he co-directed with Daniel Janneau), Perrin's films adhere to the same basic
formula. They are light romantic comedies - with a smattering of anarchic
fun - in which a social misfit discovers love and is thereupon drawn into
a bizarre series of adventures before he finally wins his soul mate. They
are effectively modern fairy tales. Of these three films,
Tête
à claques is probably the best - partly because Perrin does not
allow his imagination and cinephilia to run away with themselves (as they
would increasingly do in later films), but mainly because the lead actor
is partnered with Fanny Cottençon, an actress of comparable charisma
and ability.
By the standards of its time,
Tête à claques is a reasonably
entertaining comedy. In the late '70s, early '80s, most French film
comedies were pretty dire and many were essentially low grade exploitation
movies, profiting from the relaxation of censorship rules to lure audiences
with gratuitous bouts of female nudity. Perrin's films are refreshingly
restrained in this respect and they make good family viewing, without being
overly silly or obviously child-oriented (even if they feature a cute child
actor, Antoine Bessis). Things tend to go somewhat awry when Perrin
tries to bring real sentiment into his films (it always looks forced or phoney),
and the occasional bursts of woman beating (prevalent in this era of French
cinema) lend a distasteful air to the proceedings, particularly when the
woman in question is unable to hit back at her aggressor and meekly accepts
what the dominant male inflicts on her.
Perrin is as much a creature of his time as his film are - chauvinistic,
superficial and self-conscious, but gentle and charming in spite of all that.
Tête à claques is hardly a classic - the plot is all
over the place, the characters are either comic book caricatures or weird
beyond belief (there's a son who is obsessed with killing himself, a levitating
hippie, a madcap lawyer who could well be an escaped lunatic and a mother-in-law
who looks as if she eats babies for breakfast). Not all the gags work
but many do and there's much fun to be had watching Perrin and Cottençon
trying to extricate themselves from the sticky situations they get themselves
into. If ever you find yourselves stuck in doors on a rainy afternoon
with nothing to do,
Tête à claques will help you pass
an agreeable afternoon - and at the end of it you will either love Francis Perrin
or hate him, assuming that your attention has not been
entirely monopolised
by the furiously feisty Fanny Cottençon.
© James Travers 2016
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
Alex Berthier is thirty, divorced and lives in a small apartment with his
10-year-old son Bruno. He writes songs that no one wants to buy and
just about scrapes by on what he can earn as a taxi driver. When a
customer leaves her bag behind in his cab, Alex feels bound to drop it off
at the nearest police station, but as he does so he is mistaken for a member
of a gang of hippies that have been arrested for taking drugs in a place
public. Handcuffed to Sandrine Crispin-Vautier, the spoiled daughter
of a wealthy industrialist, Alex goes on the run but is later captured by
the police and sent to prison. On his release, Alex is in no mood to
renew his acquaintance with the troublesome Sandrine, even though they are
by now deeply in love with one another. Alex is hopping mad when he
learns that Sandrine has sold one of his songs to a record company - it has
apparently been the hit of the summer! Sandrine finally talks Alex
into marrying her so that he can regain custody of his son, who, after Alex's
arrest, has been placed in the care of his hideous stepmother. Part
of the deal is that Alex should go to work for Sandrine's father, but he
soon grows tired of his new job and his new life...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.