Ibiza

The troupe Le Splendid was one of the most subversive ones ever to grace the French comedy scene: its plays satirised everything valued and sacred in French society, from Christmas ("Le père Noël est une ordure"), to The French Resistance ("Papy fait de la résistance"). One of its most prominent members was Christian Clavier, who, like some of his former colleagues, rejected the progressivism of the troupe later in his career and embraced the complete opposite: comedies taking advantage of the conservatism of a faction of the French society, in which the good old traditional French family prevails over every (foreign/ different) danger stands in its way. "Ibiza" is such a case, but, even worse, it fails in its aim: to make spectators laugh. It is not a comedy, or to put it better, not one of this century.

Philippe, a podiatrist (Clavier), has just found a new friend many years his younger, Carole (Mathilde Seigner). Both of them divorced, they decide to go on a family vacation, together with Carole's children, Julien (Leopold Buchsbaum) and Manon (Pili Groyne). The latter two hate their mum's new chéri and consider him the epitome of kitsch, so the thought of spending one week with him doesn't please them very much. Things predictably progress, and the four land on the magnificent island for a vacation that will change their relationship, from the better to the worst and the reverse all over again, through a series of misunderstandings mostly stemming from Philippe's refusal to accept anything new.

This characteristic of Philippe is transposed to the whole film, that aims to satirise this so often referenced element of modern society, political correctness. Not exactly appropriate for a family comedy, mostly considered pure escapism by viewers, this subject is indirectly evoked through some pretty unsuccessful gags, involving homosexuals, hipsters, foreigners, and everyone considered abnormal to the main character, to the (obvious) embarrassment of his step-children. Ironically, Philippe misses the grand 80's, as exemplified by the music he puts on in the car, which is unfortunately done a disservice by the way it is used in the film. Yes, the 80's, despite the actor's having moved to the opposite direction since their end. I doubt this was anything but a result of the will to put the likeable, normal protagonist, who grew up in an age of innocence, in contrast with his recalcitrant step-children, citizens of tomorrow, a tomorrow that seems too bleak to Philippe for him to understand it.

"Ibiza" isn't only graced by Clavier's political opinions - which should have no place in a comedy, regardless of their nature - it is also unsuccessful in its comedic aspect. The gags aren't funny in the slightest, being mostly simple, often-used jokes, centering on jealousy between the members of the couple (the man notices some younger women and his girlfriend reprimands him), or the children's completely "incomprehensible" behaviour, one characteristic of adolescents. "They are just teens", says Philippe, pretending to understand them, though what he really wants is to avoid discussing with Carole about her children due to his total ignorance of their way of thinking.

Stereotypes are what this film is composed of: No character has any substance beyond a set of traits belonging to their group: Philippe is nostalgic, suspicious of modern times, and, as a divorced man, longs to find a loyal companion, loneliness being unbearable to him. Carole, the eternal single mother, makes no effort to keep up with the times and lets her children do what they see right, except, of course, drugs and tattoos, in which cases her mother instinct is activated and she comes to the rescue. As for the children, they are classic teenagers - classic in the sense of "how cheap comedies see them": always complaining, with their sole interests being having short-lived relationships and partying to "awful" rap. This, of course, is not the recipe for a good comedy, one that treats its young characters as pure caricatures and never gives them any justice. Even the parents, supposedly the reasonable ones, are presented in a completely contradictory manner of what the director wanted them to be and are thus rendered characters with little,if any, value to the story.

Traditionalism is prevalent in "Ibiza", and so, predictably, the performances are traditionally mediocre. Clavier causes no sympathy to the viewers, being a parody of the values he was supposed to represent with his fervent support of them, and his interactions with the children seem condescending at best, with no respect from his part at worst. Seigner has little place in the film besides her role of the worried mother, and just follows Clavier, giving only an imitation of his own performance, that parodies him even more. Buchsbaum made no impact as the son and his performance lacked feeling, justifying his parents' views about his relationships. We weren't waiting for the next Jean-Pierre Leaud, but he could have done better had he invested more in his role, which has the superficiality of a sitcom character, without their charm. Christophe Rippert is an exceptional actor in comparison to him, something actually doing him injustice, since he at least created a character able to win some smiles. Groyne can't reach the level of other synonymous characters (Emmanuelle Béart has already incarnated the best Manon in "Manon des Sources"), and her portrayal of the heroine seems like a mixture of Vic from "La Boum" and Lola from "LOL", both great protagonists who represented their generations' mindsets with honesty and respect to their audience. She presents the image of a completely unlikeable generation, failing to give any positive elements to her character. Is this the director's view of the current teenagers forced on to her by the script, or is it her inability to incarnate a character beyond the level of the stereotype? I think a mixture of the two. Regardless, the actors didn't achieve anything but making this already weak film worse.

"Ibiza" is not a film belonging to this era. Its type of jokes and presentation of family relationships may have been timely during the eighties - Aldo Maccione had a success as a father similar to Clavier with "Aldo et Junior" (1982), after all - but it is a bad move, not only cinematically, but also commercially, to release such a film in an age of constant changes like this one. Even among 80's films, the comedies that have remained cult are the ones providing a more balanced view of family (La Boum, Les compères...), in which the family is always reconciled, but with all members respected and having characteristics that define them as individuals, not stereotypes of whole age groups. This is the reason why they would go on to represent this generation; these traits of theirs made them relatable, and the teenagers loved them because they didn't intentionally try to be liked: they could be hated or loved, but surely they were memorable. They didn't start off as generalisations, they became such with time.

There is, of course, another type of comedy that still remains popular and causes laughs aplenty: the smart one, which, in its subversiveness, make us think about society while having great fun. The group that perfected these comedies was Le Splendid. Who would have thought that Christian Clavier, the one who interpreted a drag queen in 1982, would go on to make a film in which he sees two men kissing, and feels disgusted to sit near them? Has he betrayed his old values, or just transformed them into something new? I think it's the first. In this trip to Ibiza, I doubt there is anyone looking at Christian Clavier and thinking that the one who is a stinker is not Santa Claus, but Philippe. Even if he's not holding a gun.

A blended family with 2 teenagers as unpleasant as self-important decide to go to Ibiza for a week holiday. It's supposed to be a comedy ... theoretically ...

This Movie has everything. Really Good! I was not expecting to be so good.

Philippe is a well-mannered older man who works as podiatrist in Paris, divorced from his first wife and involved with Carole, a fortysomething woman still bitter that her first husband left her for a younger woman. Carole's teenagers, Julien and Manon, despise Philippe, thinking he's too old for their mother, and he's trying to improve their opinion of him. After a disastrous visit to his parents' home in a remote French town, he convinces Carole to make a deal with Julien that if he passes all his high-school exams, he can choose where they have their holidays--although he's terrified that Julien will come through. Julien comes through and chooses Ibiza. Once there, trouble abounds: Carole develops a frustrating inferiority complex when Philippe turns his head time and again to watch all the pretty, sexy, younger girls; Philippe's intention to have a relaxing time crashes against an island in an eternal techno-music feasts; Manon meets Jordan at the hotel pool; and Julien chose Ibiza so he could look for former girlfriend Tara and try to get her back. Then Carole encounters Frankie, who DJs in Ibiza's well-known disco Ushaia--where Carole used to dance and Frankie used to be her lover. As time goes on, each of the four gets involved in more-bizarre, more-surreal situations--but discover that they have more in common than they thought.