Les bronzés font du ski

This is the first French film I ever saw since moving to France from the UK a year ago, and what can I say, nothing else compares to it! I can certainly see why it has become such a classic over here. I've seen it several times now and it still has me in fits of laughter ever time I watch it. I strongly advise everyone to watch the original version and not to bother with the English soundtrack, as the translation is truly atrocious and a lot of the jokes are missed out.

Set in Val d'Isère in the 70s, a group of friends head for the mountains for a skiing trip, and everything that could possibly go wrong on a skiing holiday DOES go wrong... add to that the unique French sense of humour and loads of witty remarks from the characters throughout, and you have a truly superb film. Highly recommended!

If aliens would come to earth and want to understand our frontiers and nationalities, i would recommend our french comedies to learn from them. So American comedies are totally different from ours, and while European ones would be similar, my fellows have however clear and distinct attributes: if you look for fashioned and modern french, you will find only Parisians! Outside Paris, french live as in Middle- ages! French are wild beats as we just like to eat, drink and have sex... We are not very polite or clean and we are lucky to live in an however beautiful country with fantastic landscapes! So with that on mind, you can enjoy this funny movie! I never went to winter vacations but this movie feels like it! As it happens on the late 70s, you can even discover France at its best as everything was better than now: the cars, the fashion, the attitudes. It's maybe the first time i watched it entirely because as a child, we weren't allowed TV except on Tuesdays and Saturdays. So this movie belongs to the few french cult movies as we watch it over and over. All generations can share some lines or situations as they are so true that they will make us laugh forever!

"Look Bernard... I think you and I have the same problem: the point is that we cannot really rely on our looks, especially you. So let me give you a piece of advice: forget you don't stand a chance, and just go for it! Who knows, it might work out of a misunderstanding!" These are the true words of wisdom spoken to his friend Bernard by no one but France's most endearing cinematic loser: Michel Blanc aka Jean-Claude Dus. And the 'misunderstanding' part immediately penetrated French culture as the inspirationally desperate encouragement for perseverance.

The line I just quoted is my favorite from the "Les Bronzés Font du Ski" not just because of the absurd yet relevant message but for the priceless way it's delivered with the "especially you" as the icing on the cake. Gérard Jugnot as Bernard Morin might not be the handsomest of the bunch, but that these words come from Michel Blanc, who's not exactly Alain Delon, turns an already funny quote into a genius piece of verbal hilarity.

I deliberately started with this brief analysis because it's the one that speaks the very essential truth about "Les Bronzés Font du Ski": when it's funny, it is very funny, even funnier than the first opus of our dear vacationers' adventures "Les Bronzés".

Indeed, more than a sequel, the 'ski lodge' version of "Les Bronzés" is a second and much better installment of the series involving Bernard, Jean-Claude, Nathalie, Jérome, Gigi, Popeye and co. They're all here, playing the same characters but this time, the directing is less hazardous than the previous film, the Val d'Isère Mountains provide a breath-taking cinematography with its dazzling white landscape under a sunny blue sky, and the script an additional level of depth on the characters without killing off the charm of their obvious weaknesses or flaws. In one of the opening scenes, when Bernard and Nathalie make their entrance in their chalet's room, they protest against the occupants who put a banal painting in the wall "that belongs to everybody". Later, we see Nathalie hanging a ridiculous clown portrait that makes the whole rant hilariously absurd, postponing its comedic effect.

What is so great about "Les Bronzés Font du Ski" is that every single scene stands alone as a great piece of comedy, which makes any attempt to list the funniest scenes ludicrous. Each scene is either funny or works as the set-up of an even funnier moment, and each character has a moment to shine, provided we knew them from the first opus. Although I believe it's a far better film than the first, the viewing of the latter is essential, if not indispensable.

And even the very supporting characters create memorable moments. During a dinner, Christiane, Domique Lavanant as the insecure old maid, brings her new friend for dinner. The age of the man (who could be her father) is a gag in itself but the way Maurice Chevrit steals the show during that dinner is indescribable. He makes a speech about celebrities who wore toupees with a level of believability and seriousness that I can see appealing to English or sophisticated audiences. The summit of Pythonesque absurdity is reached when he raises his glasses complimenting the wine's taste, totally forgetting that it was the wine he brought himself and what's more, didn't want to share with the others. And God, this is only the starters; the film works on every level of comedy, from slapstick to subtle humor, which makes it among the greatest comedies ever.

And despite the episodic feeling, the little subplots doesn't feel as disjointed as in the second, a tribute to Patrice Leconte who applies his touch on the film and doesn't take for granted the popularity of the characters and the cleverness of the script. The film is still loyal to the spirit of the first one, carried by the central performance of Michel Blanc as Jean-Claude Dus, with his immortal catchphrase "I can't feel that tonight, I'll conclude" which means that he'll "make it with the girl". His desperate attempts to conclude are the running gag of the series that never gets old and inspires some of the funniest moments of the film. The one where he's stuck in the chair lift, in the middle of a night and another more subtle one, when he struggles to seduce a pretty Italian with Popeye. Both lamentably fail and when an enraged Dus asks Popeye "I don't know what prevents me from knocking you" Popeye's answer is funny: "I don't know. Fear, maybe?" but Dus' approval is hysterical.

Still, despite Dus' series of failure, sex is less an issue than in the first film, and the last act features a conventional trip where they'll naturally end up lost, but never does the inspiration desert the film and no part feels too long or too short. The 'Splendid Troop' is still holding very high the flag of humor and the story progresses until a final apotheosis in the highlanders' chalet and a dinner that couldn't have been more unappetizing. The final toast is one of the most classic moments of French Cinema and I still wonder how many takes they had to shoot without bursting out of laughs.

Everything holds up together from beginning to end, alas, the same can't be said about the dreadful and uninspired third opus made 27 years later. But to conclude on a positive note, I want to mention another element on which the film's popularity relies: the extremely catchy piece of pop-music from the late Pierre Bachelet. And as you know, when the music, the writing, the acting, the directing and the cinematography are all at the top of their game, the popularity of a film is hardly debatable.

It is an excellent movie!! A French monument! For English speakers, you can find the DVD with English subs on amazon.co.uk. Most of the actors are part of the French comedy group called "Le Splendid", and they're all simply awesome. This movie is a sequel of "Les Bronzes" which in my opinion is not worth watching. It's good but it's far below the laughing fest that is "Les Bronzes font du ski". The dialogues are perfect and the situations are just hilarious. A group of friends who met in a Club Med for single people reunite to go ski together. When they decide to do a helicopter drop at the top of a ski resort things start to go wrong...but it gets real funny for us! I'm French but I hope foreigners will get a chance to watch it since it was a huge success in France along with "Le Pere Noel est une Ordure" (also available on amazon uk)made by the same "Splendid" group.

Not much more to say, watch this movie that is a lot more subtle than you could imagine (not just the ordinary farce), and if you want to be accepted easily in France, learn 2 or 3 of the punchlines, you can be sure you'll make friends!!! Everyone knows them here!!!!