Die Abenteuer des Rabbi Jacob

Does anyone know where I can get a copy of this movie? I saw it in 1973 and can only remember that I was glad it was in subtitles because the laughter drowned out the dialogue. The juxtaposition of rabbis that weren't, with other Jews was hilarious. This movie was heavy with slapstick type humor as well. Loved it !

This is one of the best comedies in the French cinema. Louis de Funes plays the role of Victor Pivert, an industrialist with a Napoleonic complex and a tendency for racist viewpoints, who inadvertantly teams up with, Mohamed Larbi Slimane, an exiled Arab political oposition candidate who is on the run from hired assassins in Paris. Pivert and Slimane masquerade as two Jewish rabbis in order to save their lives. What follows are hillarious scenes taking place in the Jewish section of Paris as well as in the surrounding areas. Watch out for the incredible mime scenes by Louis de Funes at the gas station and in the Orly airport.

I first saw this when I was a kid on its first US release back in the early 1970's. I laughed to kill myself and thought it was one of the funniest things I had ever seen.

The quest to see the movie again over the last 30 years has been a labor of love. I don't think it ever aired on New York TV and its showings on cable can be counted on one hand. I was lucky enough to see it a a local revival theater a few years ago before it completely disappeared. Thanks to E-Bay I recently picked up a VHS copy and now comes word that a US release on DVD is moments away. Life couldn't be better.

The one thing the handful of viewings of the film has taught me is that the movie plays differently every time I see it. Depending on mood it I may find it to be one of the funniest or one of the most charming films movies ever made. Some sequences in one viewing will leave me gasping for breath while other times it will simply make me smile. No matter though I've enjoyed it each time I've watched it.

The story of a bigot who gets way laid and ends up on the run all over France only to end up posing as a beloved Rabbi, is ripe with comic potential most of which is put to good use. Also put to good use are some twists that no rational person would come up with, but which work in the context of a wild comedy, the bubble gum factory for example.

This is a wonderful life affirming story that makes you laugh until you cry while showing that ultimately we are all the same. Which is kind of tragic in view of the films opening shots which are some of the earliest film footage shot at the World Trade Center, which had just opened.

If you like to laugh see this movie, its wonderful.

After seeing this movie, I wanted to write a review saying how funny this film was, so anyone checking IMDB would know. Luckily, all of the other reviews already capture the hilarious nature of this film. I can only add that my French teacher said most French people have seen the movie many times and practically know it by heart. Even though she has seen it many times, she wanted to see it yet again. Everybody will like this film, unless you really hate slapstick. If you are Jewish, it is especially funny, but if you aren't its still a complete riot.

Give Louis de Funes a good role and the freedom to go nuts, and you will have a good movie. In Rabbi Jacob, Funes is the owner of an industrial plant who "knows that the people like to be lied to" ("mais il AIME qu'on lui mente, le peuple!"). His character is intolerant of Arabs, Jews, Blacks, etc. At one point during the story, however, he must take on the identity of a Rabbi and try to pass himself off as Jewish in order to save his hide. With him is an Arab, who must do the same. If you've seen de Funes before, I'm sure you can imagine the hilarious scenes that arise out of this predicament.