Pierre Durois, a maths teacher at a girls' college, is a humble man : all he wants from life is the respect of his pupils and the love of the pretty gym teacher, to whom he is engaged. Pierre is a citizen of the most blameless rectitude, but he does have a more disreputable friend, who works for a scandal sheet and thinks nothing of taking illicit pictures of a female movie star having a nude swim. The said friend embroils Pierre in series of adventures which will change his life into a three-ring circus...
Another classic French comedy, although a classic French comedy which, for one reason or another, never charmed or amused me as much as it should have. As a result I can't say this is a personal favorite. Still, it's easy to see why it became so successful : the performances (especially by Pierre Richard, Claude Piéplu and Jane Birkin) are good and there are quite a lot of visual gags and stunts to enjoy. There is also no lack of targets. Among the subjects and persons lampooned : Henry Kissinger / American foreign policy / political parties harping on morals and values / journalism / scandal sheets / gays / movie making / the western genre / groupies / surgery /... but I fear my laptop is getting tired. Note the quality of the stuntwork, which was choreographed by one of the most famous "cascadeurs" of his time.
In case you're wondering about Kissinger, he shows up, thinly disguised, as the secret lover of the female star who likes to swim in the nude. His love goddess has a sad tendency to telephone him while he's busy negotiating in some far-off Eastern country - could this be Vietnam ?
At least two scenes have achieved cinematic immortality. One is a scene where the hapless Pierre fights off a hunting leopard, in a closet (!) ; the other one has the movie star going medieval on a group of stuntmen, during a classic western saloon fight.
Another classic French comedy, although a classic French comedy which, for one reason or another, never charmed or amused me as much as it should have. As a result I can't say this is a personal favorite. Still, it's easy to see why it became so successful : the performances (especially by Pierre Richard, Claude Piéplu and Jane Birkin) are good and there are quite a lot of visual gags and stunts to enjoy. There is also no lack of targets. Among the subjects and persons lampooned : Henry Kissinger / American foreign policy / political parties harping on morals and values / journalism / scandal sheets / gays / movie making / the western genre / groupies / surgery /... but I fear my laptop is getting tired. Note the quality of the stuntwork, which was choreographed by one of the most famous "cascadeurs" of his time.
In case you're wondering about Kissinger, he shows up, thinly disguised, as the secret lover of the female star who likes to swim in the nude. His love goddess has a sad tendency to telephone him while he's busy negotiating in some far-off Eastern country - could this be Vietnam ?
At least two scenes have achieved cinematic immortality. One is a scene where the hapless Pierre fights off a hunting leopard, in a closet (!) ; the other one has the movie star going medieval on a group of stuntmen, during a classic western saloon fight.