La grande vadrouille

And the most popular. Often showed on TV, she has been seen in the cinema by 17 million viewers, absolute record in my country. Bourvil and de Funes, two of the most popular comic actors (dead in 1977 and 1983), rival of good words, jokes and poetics. It was one of the first times that the nazis were turned about ridiculous guignols in the cinema (after "papy fait de la Résistance").

If you love this film, see "le Corniaud".

Starring the famous Bourvil/Louis de Funes tandem it is a highly entertaining caper set in WWII German-occupied France, where these 2 unlikely heroes reluctantly must help some downed British airmen to escape.

A perennial favourite on French TV during the Christmas or Easter holidays it is one of those rare movies you can watch over and over again without getting tired of it. It runs more than two hours but moves along at an incredible pace. Movie relies bigtime on the clash of character between de Funes as the self-important musical director of the Opéra de Paris and Bourvil as the simple housepainter. But also the hilarious script, some spectacular setpieces (including a spielbergesque chase by German sidecars) and a surprising finale all add up to making `Vadrouille' one of the best and most entertaining French movies ever.

Made on a lavish budget by Gerard Oury who would go on to make some other highly succesfull comedies, mostly starring big French stars as de Funes and Bourvil, but also Jean-Paul Belmondo, Pierre Richard and Christian Clavier. Incidentally his next venture was to be the equally succesfull `The Brain', starring none other than David Niven (!) and Eli Wallach, backed up by Bourvil and Belmondo. Bourvil and de Funes should be reunited again by Oury in `La folie des Grandeurs' but then sadly Bourvil passed away. He was replaced by none other than Yves Montand.

Up to that time movies made in France took war rather seriously, but `La grande vadrouille' sparked of an endless string of farces set in WWII which almost invariably depicted the French as very clever and cunning, always outwitting the Germans in the end. Even the recent (2002) `Laissez-Passer' from much-acclaimed director Bertrand Tavernier is based on this premiss.

If you like this definitely try to see `Le Corniaud', the first de Funes/Bourvil caper by Oury or why not `Mais ou est donc passé la 7ieme compagnie ?' as a prime example of the smart French vs not-so-smart German theme.

Why is this movie so funny? And why is it universally judged to be so by people who don't understand French culture? I have asked myself this question while watching it for the Nth time and while asking myself why most Hollywood 'comedies' made today are not funny at all. I believe that the answer is that the basis of all comedy is to make fun of someone. Here, fun is made of sexual stereotypes, of the British, of the French and, most of all, of the Germans, Nazis in this case. Hollywood has become so politically-correct that it now only dares make fun of a WASP male in a business suit, and of no one else. Take the case of 'The Birdcage', a remake of the French comedy 'La cage aux folles' made some 20 years earlier. Being bilingual, I can testify that the original version is immensely more funny than the Hollywood remake. That is because the Hollywood bean-counters, who like to pass themselves off as artistic decision-makers, toned down most of the fun that had been made of homosexuals in the original movie. Ask Shakespeare or Moliere: the play or movie will be funny only if it pokes cruel fun at someone, provided it is not at you. Sorry for the politically-incorrect opinion.

In France, but also in the neighboring countries like Belgium (where yours truly lives), "La Grande Vadrouille" is more than just a cinematic classic… It's a cultural monument and even national heritage! I certainly don't intend to sound pretentious, but I doubt if such a movie could ever exist in the United States. Why? Because this film is patriotic and satirical at the same time, the script is chock-full of clichés and stereotypes whilst the humor doesn't necessarily rely on clichés and stereotypes, and although the subject matter deals with the depressing events of World War II – forever one of the darkest pages in the world's history – the tone of the film remains courteous and innocent at all times. The Nazis in this film are naturally the bad guys but for once they aren't depicted as inhuman monsters, which is probably the main reason why "La Grande Vadrouille" is also enormously successful in Germany! And last but not least, the script respects the language differences per country! The French simply speak French - or English with extremely heavy accents – while the English speak English and the Germans speak German! I don't see that happening in Hollywood, to be honest.

The film received the funny but rather hokey sounding English title "Don't Look Now, We're being shot at", but actually "La Grande Vadrouille" simply means something like "The Big Stroll" or "The Giant Walk". As you can derive from the above paragraph, the film takes place in during the WWII Nazi occupation of France. The story already starts out hilariously, when the pilot of a British bomber plane asks his fellow passengers what their location is. They claim the plain is more or less above Calais, but when the clouds clear up they are surprised to see the Eiffel Tower directly beneath them. The plane is shot down by German ground troops and each of the three British soldiers wanders off towards a different part of Paris with their parachutes. The British pilots receive help from two typical yet entirely opposite French citizens, namely the simple but hard- working painter Augustin Bouvet and the snobbish orchestra leader Stanislas Lefort. Both men, along with the help of various other French citizens, take several risks in order to reunite the British team, which of course makes them enemies of the Third Reich as well. The whole group has to flee towards the South of France, but naturally the journey is full of obstacles and dangers. Many, and I do mean MANY, sequences in "La Grande Vadrouille" have become immortal cinematic highlights over the years and it's almost impossible to list them. The mix-up with the room numbers in the hotel, for example, is very famous and still as incredibly funny by today's standards as it must have been back in 1966. Other unforgettable highlights include the rendezvous in the Turkish bath house and the pumpkin counterattack. In fact, every single interaction between the legendary French actors/comedians Bourvil and Louis de Funès qualifies as classic comedy cinema. Both geniuses where at the absolute heights of their careers at this point, but Bourvil sadly passed away far too young a couple of years later, at age 53. Louis de Funès continued to make several more French comedy classics until his death in the early 1980s, including the sequels in the successful "Les Gendarmes de Saint-Tropez" franchise, "Les Aventures de Rabbi Jacob" and "La Soupe aux Choux". De Funès truly was, without any exaggeration, one of the funniest people who ever lived. His looks and his energetic facial expressions were his main trademarks. He wasn't very tall and his almost naturally cantankerous apparition, in combination with his distinct voice and habit of talking really fast, made him the ideal hothead-character. "La Grande Vadrouille" is a brilliant film, with a brilliant cast and a brilliant director, as well as brilliant music (courtesy of Georges Auric) and brilliant cinematography by Claude Renoir. It's warmly recommended to all admirers of genuinely funny comedies and fundamental viewing for everyone living in Europe.

This film has the remarkable property that there aren't any boring pieces in it. It just brings you more than 2 hours of top-comedy, together with a fine scenario. The magical trio Louis de Funès, Bourvil and Gérard Oury make this film so unique. If you like this one, be sure to have seen Le Corniaud.