Monsieur auf Abwegen

This truly funny and very well written - by Dabadie - comedy directed by Yves Robert is certainly one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. It is also one that I enjoy seeing again and again.

Where the pretext for the story is really just what it is - a pretext - the most interesting part is the relationships that fuels the friendship between four men entangled in very difficult "rapport" with women. The funniest one certainly being the mother-son relationship that is in fact a true love story, that goes on between Guy Bedos and Marthe Villalonga. The scenes between those two are real anthology pieces.

The secondary roles are also very attaching, particularly the one held by Christophe Bourseiller.

All in all, this "coup de foudre" turned bad, told in voice over with amazing wit and elegance by Jean Rochefort is a classic that stands alone in the face of very mediocre French comedies.

The sequel - Nous irons tous au paradis - is also very enjoyable.

Every actor needs a breakthrough role and Jean Rochefort's finally came courtesy of director Yves Robert in this slight but utterly delightful piece. The character of Etienne Dorsay affords the marvellous Monsieur Rochefort the opportunity to employ his innate quirkiness, eccentricity, Gallic charm and comedic timing to the fullest.

This is essentially a 'buddy' movie featuring a marriage break-up, a domineering mother and one of the buddies coming out of the closet but the scenes that work best are those involving Etienne, his wife, played by the lovely and talented Daniele Delorme, the object of his desire Anny Duperey who possesses that 'je ne sais quoi' in spades and Martine Sarcey as a libidinous colleague who resents being repeatedly stood up. Especially funny are Etienne's antics on horseback. Rochefort was in fact a keen equestrian and horse breeder who developed a passion for these noble creatures whilst filming 'Cartouche'.

Dialogue is by Jean-Loup Dapadie who contributed to so many of Claude Sautet's films, including the archetypal 'buddy' movie 'Vincent, Francois, Paul et les autres'.

The sequel alas worked less well but that is customarily the case with sequels and eight years were to elapse before the obligatory Hollywood makeover. Whether the result was worth the wait is of course down to the individual viewer.

Yves Robert's best works are those which deal with children :"la guerre des boutons" "la Gloire de mon Père" and its follow-up "le château de ma mère"."Un éléphant" is not as good as the three movies I mention above.But what connects it to his three wonderful films is that its four heroes have not really grown up.Claude Brasseur 's way of pitting the olives is a schoolboy 's joke!We can also credit Robert for introducing a gay character (Brasseur) while avoiding the usual clichés.Brasseur portrays a man like all the other ones.We'd never guess he is gay if we were not told it so.On the other hand,the female parts are not very interesting:Daniele Delorme -who was Robert's wife and her co-producer-was better in the fifties when she was directed by Duvivier and the attractive Duperrey is nothing but a mirage .And Guy Bedos 's mother is a calamity ,for Marthe Villalonga is ham-acting flesh on the bone.

The movie was so successful that there was a sequel ("Nous irons tous au Paradis' ) and an American remake ("the woman in red")

Etienne(Jean Rochefort)is a happily married man and a good father. His friends all have secret affairs and/or cheat on their wives. One morning, Etienne sees a woman in red passing by his car. He falls in love with her and tries everything to get to know her better. Of course, this must be kept a secret to his wife.

Whereas the story may not be very original, this film is extremely charming and amiable nonetheless. It has a great supporting cast(Brasseur is a stand-out), very funny moments and many real-life characters. Too bad this charming little film was later remade as THE WOMAN IN RED(with Gene Wilder and Kelly LeBrock). But Hollywood seems to have this "urge" to make their own version of each film with a bit of success outside the States. Anyway, if you have to choose between the original and the remake, choose UN ÉLEPHANT...(or PARDON MON AFFAIRE as it is sometimes called). 7/10

"Un éléphant ca trompe énormément" is the original of the American remake "The woman in red" (1984, Gene Wilder). Not always are American remakes good films, but if not they still can lead the way to films that are good. See for example "Insomonia" (2002, Christopher Nolan) pointing to the 1997 original by Erik Skjoldbjærg or "Nightwatch" (1997, Ole Bornedal) pointing to the Danish 1994 original "Nattevagten" by the same director. The 2002 "Insomnia" incidentatlly wasn't a bad film at all, the 1997 "Nightwatch" was.

"Un éléphant ...." is about four men in mid life crisis. It shares this theme with for example a film like "American beauty" (1999, Sam Mendes). Films about mid life crises are almost always bittersweet. They have comical elements, as men pursuing a new love interest after all those years invariably behave strangly. On the other hand they are also sad because in essence these men are dissatisfied with their lives.

"Un éléphant ..." is no exception. With respect to the sad element, none of the four men is really happy. One is an incurable womanizer who panics every time his wife leaves him, one is a single still dominated by his mother, one is a homosexual who has not come out yet and the main character is a civil servant with a dull life.

We can see the comical element throughout the whole movie, sometimes bordering on slapstick. Not all jokes are funny, but some are. The slapstick in the scenes with horses are in my opinion very funny. I could imagine these scenes have been an inspiration for director Benedikt Erlingsson when making "Of horses and men" (2013).

Last but not least, "Un éléphant ... " (and also "The woman in red") derive their fame to no small extent from a film quote derived from "The seven year itch" (1955, Billy Wilder) showing the billowing dress of Marilyn Monroe ("The seven year itch"), Anny Duperey ("Un éléphant ... ") and Kelly LeBrock ("The woman in red").