3 Time Film Excess Nominee:
Best Film (lost to The Descendants)
Best Cinematography: Mathieu Vadepied (lost to Phedon Papamichael for The Descendants)
Best Editing: Dorian Rigal-Ansous (lost to The Artist)
+ Best French Movie of the Year
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| Watch Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache's The Intouchables to get to know these two happy gentlemen |
QUICK REVIEW:
A rich man in a wheelchair has grown tired of his usual helpers and so hires an uncouth man from Senegal to be his new caretaker. Though from completely different walks of life, the two develop a strong friendship.
Intouchables has got a great opening 'hook' scene, a handsomely shot car scene, and it continues perfectly as a warm culture clash-themed dramedy about grasping the chances that life affords and embracing life and friendships in general. It is written and directed by Frenchmen Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache (Samba (2014), both), based on a true story. (Critics of the film are often obsessed with the race aspect of the film, which they attack and dislike, and they find that it is of great importance that the real story concerned a French-Algerian caregiver, not a black African as in the film. - But, I say, what does this change matter, really...?)
Intouchables is really funny, and at the same time it manages to tell a strong story with credible, full characters. François Cluzet (Little White Lies/Les Petits Mouchoirs (2010)) and especially a very vivacious Omar Sy (Jurassic World (2015)) in the leads and Anne Le Ny (Attila Marcel (2013)) and Audrey Fleurot (Midnight in Paris (2011)) as the women who surround them have great chemistry and act with aplomb.
The movie has visual panache, cinematography by Mathieu Vadepied (Read My Lips/Sur Mes Lèvres (2001)), nice musical choices and seamless editing by Dorian Rigal-Ansous (Samba).
The Intouchables is a high-concept, feel-good crowd-pleaser, a touching human meeting that is among the year's best films.
Related posts:
Top 10: Best French movies
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Top 10: The best true story movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Cost: 10.8 mil. $
Box office: 426.5 mil. $
= Mega-hit
[Untouchables was the most viewed French film in France after 4 weeks. After 16 weeks, a whopping 19 mil. people had seen it in France, where it was #1 for 10 consecutive weeks, setting a new record. It is the highest-grossing movie in a language other than English of all time, beating Spirited Away (2001, 274.9 mil. $), the highest grossing French film of all time and the highest grossing foreign film in North America of 2012. It was #1 for several weeks in a row of European countries and has been seen globally by more than 50 mil. cinema-goers. It grossed 10.1 mil. $ (2.4 % of the total gross) in North America. The 3 biggest markets were France (166.1 mil. $/38.9 %), Germany (79 mil. $/18.5 %) and Spain (21 mil. $/4.9 %). The film was shortlisted for the Best Foreign Film Oscar category. The Intouchables is certified fresh at 75 % with a 6.7 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes. General audiences are more enthused, lauding the film as the #38 best ever on IMDb's Top 250. A US remake with Colin Firth and Kevin Hart and Tom Shadyac serving as director is presently in the mold.]
What do you think of The Intouchables?
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