La chèvre

I saw this movie back in 1982 when I was about 12 years old. I couldn't stop laughing. Another 12 years later I finally got the VHS... I thought I wasn't going to find it so funny because I was 24 years old, but I laughed even more!.. And keep laughing to this day. The film must have been so successful that this trio (Veber/Depardieu/Richard) made 2 more movies afterward, all of them equally funny. The way the director generates humor from everyday situations, shows a keen sense of observation and a capacity for caricature of the ridiculous in human nature. If one manages to abstract from the fact that it is not exactly a recent movie and if one concentrates on the humor of the situations, attitudes, face expressions, etc... One will easily realize that it is not needed to behave like a clown, falling dressed on a swimming pool or smashing wedding cakes on someone's face... Or screaming vulgar words, to be funny. A true Golden "Oldie", and a definite must see!..

A hilarious comedy, and justifiably a box-office smash in France, this is a must-see for fans of the two stars. Richard and Depardieu are at their best while their characters experience mishap after mishap in trying to find a businessman's daughter. Remade a decade later as "Pure Luck", this film stands as further proof that the original usually outshines the remake. Rent this film if you like to laugh.

The film seems to me to be the best comedy ever. Both Richard and Depardieu are wonderful. The film abounds in comic situations, but the dialogue is even better - lively, volatile, "French". It is both a comedy of situations and a comedy of words. This film is like a Mont Blanc among comedies. It's a pity that few people bother to vote for it. In Russia a generation grew up laughing at the characters of Richard, and this generation was far from being the worst. His films are pure joy.

These two actors are great together, and their three films are all funny (La Chevre, Les Comperes, Les Fugitifs), but this one is the best because of its concept that it will take an unlucky detective to find the missing unlucky girl. But he is more than unlucky; he is also a deluded jerk (though not a mean one)who doesn't even know he is unlucky. His partner, a very competent realist (and perfect straight man) has to rescue him time after time to follow his unlucky course toward the girl. Great French humor.

I spent a fun evening at the movies watching the 1981 comedy 'La Chevre' written and directed by Francis Veber and starring Pierre Richard and Gérard Depardieu. It's quite interesting to see the two French actors at a moment when the paths of their careers were crossing. By the time this film was made Pierre Richard was an established comedian with a few big hits in his records, while (the thinner than today) Depardieu was an ascending young actor but his great roles were still a few years ahead. It was the first out of three films the two actors made together. When the third was made, Depardieu's fame and prestige exceeded by far the one of his partner.

The story of the film is ridiculous by design, and I need to point to one rare moments of disagreement with the opinion of my idol in cinema critic, Roger Ebert who gave just 1.5 stars out of 4 to the film. The pretext of story is meant to be stupid, it's part of the comic design of the script. It goes like this. The daughter of a rich French businessman - beautiful but unlucky in all she does - is kidnapped in Mexico. When all classical means to find her fail, the solution is thought to pair the detective (Depardieu) with a distraught accountant in the businessman's company (Rchard) who is as unlucky and as much a walking catastrophe as the vanished girl. The two are sent to Mexico in the hope that the chains of bad luck will lead to the same place where the girl is being held.

Bad luck and in-adaptation to the the real world are sources of comedy since Laurel and Hardy. Francis Veber brings the genre close to perfection. The Richard - Depardieu couple works perfectly. While Richard is the master of the physical gags, Depardieu complements him and provides the amplifying counterpoint with his annoyed stares and exasperated eyebrows moves. One deploys a lot of energy, the other takes a minimalist approach. The result is explosive. Watching this film is far from being only an exercise in nostalgia, it's the guarantee of a good time spent on really fun comedy.

One more thing - the film is one of the more than 250(!) films that benefit from the music composed by Vladimir Cosma . The score is wonderful.

And a question. I could not figure out or find information about the significance of the title. What does 'Le chevre' ('The Goat') means. It must be some French slang that escapes me. Or something else. Any hint will be appreciated.