L'emmerdeur

This is one of those films that is so funny, it makes you (well me anyway) smile just to remember it.

The essential storyline is of a professional hitman and a guy that he finds he can not get rid of. (The English translation of the title is pain-in-the-behind.)

This is black comedy done to perfection with a brilliant gradual build-up. It starts straight-faced so, if you do not know what you are watching, it could be any old thriller. Gradually the gags come in until it reaches a manic pace.

The two stars are the completely deadpan Lino Ventura and the songwriter Jacques Brel.

It is sadly under-rated and hard-to-find. Seek it out!

This film essentially is a study of characters between a loser (Jacques Brel) and a hit man (Lino Ventura).

This film, like many French comedies, has a Hollywood counterpart, "Buddy Buddy", with Walther Mathau and Jack Lemmon. Although not bad, the remake is nevertheless deceptive, as we were expecting much more from a movie in which the two principal characters are played by such great actors.

Watching movies 'backwards' is an interesting experience. There are so many good titles out there that were shot before I was born or I was grown up enough to have a chance to see them. Buddy, Buddy is one of them. However, looking at the critiques, I discovered that this is again a remake of a great French movie, L'Emmerdeur. Last time I have seen Ture Lies first, than I watched La Totale!, which was quite a disappointment, as the US version was just way much better, more money, better actors, etc. So now, I have decided to watch L'Emmerdeur first and just then Buddy, Buddy.

Although the movie was not fast as a paced action movie, the 80 minutes went by quite fast. I liked the atmosphere of the film, which is typical for French movies of this time: simple setup, small budget, great ideas and great actors. I just loved the funny situations and little jokes throughout.

The other attraction of the movie is the great Belgian singer, Jacques Brel (1929-1978). Although not French, he's a characteristic of French pop music of the 20th. Although he played in a number of movies, he's really not talented for an actor, the only other movie of his that worth a watch is 'L'aventure, c'est l'aventure'. However, as a composer/singer, he was fantastic, just browse to jacquesbrel.be to discover.

In case you're a fan of French movies as I am, this is a must to watch. However, as time has passed, L'Emmerdeur brings enough entertainment only for a Saturday/Sunday afternoon for the big audience, strongly recommended for family watch - 7/10.

This is one of the last good comedies Molinaro was able to make, before he got stuck in Cage aux folles-robotic entertainment. Pairing Lino Ventura and Jacques Brel was a wonderful idea: one is so dour and methodical, the other so emotional, helpless, a real loser.

The hotel scenes are very well set up; there is a claustrophobic feeling about the layout of the suites. The water seeping through the door into Ventura's suite from Brel's bathroom after the suicide attempt prevents Ventura from concentrating on assembling his rifle--very well handled by Molinaro. The clinic scene, with Ventura ending up in a strait-jacket is a marvelous four-way comic piece with Caroline Cellier and Jean-Pierre Darras joining the two principals.

Now, if someone will bring back La Mandarine (with an impressive Annie Girardot) and L'Homme pressé, two more great Molinaro pictures from the 70's, my happiness will be complete.

"L'Emmerdeur" (1973) is the French movie which originated a US remake directed by Willy Wilder -"Buddy Buddy" (1981), starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. It was the last Wilder movie, not bad at all, but this original one is far better.

French star Lino Ventura and Belgian singer Jacques Brel were friends, they shot their first film together with Claude Lelouch "L'aventure c'est l'aventure". They wanted to team again and chose established comedy director Edouard Molinaro for adapting this movie, written by Francis Veber -who later became another master of French comedy...

A gangster named Milan takes a room in a Montpellier hotel, which is located in front of a Tribunal. He has a mission -shooting from his window for killing the key witness of a trial. In the room next to his there's a man, François Pignon, who is desperate instead. he wants to commit suicide because his wife quit him. The meeting of the two originates a series of accidents and misunderstandings...!

The comedy is excellent, with two actors in a really good shape. The highlight is that Brel and Ventura characters are so different and have nothing in common. Each, in his own side, is not funny -one is serious and cold, the other is sad and loser. BUT their combination is absolutely comical. (The way Brel calls Ventura -"Monsieur Milan!"- is irresistible!)

It's a high quality comedy, one of the most famous ever made in France. Edouard Molinaro directed other great comedies -among them two films with Louis De Funès and "La Cage aux folles", the gay comedy starring Michel Serrault and Ugo Tognazzi. Molinaro is at ease in making "L'Emmerdeur", many scenes are also shot by himself carrying a camera on his shoulder...

But the other leading person behind this film is, as already said, Francis Veber. His lines and situations are typical of the comedies he'll direct later -among them "La chèvre" with Depardieu and Pierre Richard, "Le diner des cons" and "Le placard". There's his recognizable style of creating strange situations -Veber likes putting in his films two completely different actors and creating comical situations from that.

Another thing: Jacques Brel's character is called François Pignon. It's the same name Veber uses in his other films for one of the two leading roles -the name itself has become synonym of an awkward, unlucky, naive and a little stupid person...!