La Classe américaine : Le Grand Détournement

Take a bit of El Dorado, a bit of President's men, a part of Citizen Kane, (etc.), keep the usual dubbing French voice but create another story... Unique, hilarious, perfect

He's name is George Abitbol (John Wayne). He's the man "le plus classe du monde", got an award of having the best class (so it is the reason of the titles : la classe américaine). But someone seems to have assassinate him. 3 journalists are charged to explain his last words : "Monde de merde" ("shit world", that's my translation but maybe there is another sentence which is better) : Dave (Paul Newman), Peter (Dustin Hoffman), Steven (Robert Redford). They will interview every friends or enemies of George until...

A must-see, if you find it keep it as long as you can!

This movie has been made under the license of Warner Bros., it was broadcasted 2 or 3 times on french TV in 1993. Warner Bros. probably scared of being sued by the actors of the film didn't allow the movie to be broadcasted anymore, it is for now only available on the net...

I discovered recently the "Grand Détournement" series: small scenes of movies, assembled in an absurdly hilarious patchwork and dubbed by French actors.

Being quite fond of absurd humor (I especially love seeing serious movie stars say something completely out of bounds with what was said in the original movie...), I knew I was a potential target for these shows...

However, having now seen all 3 of them (I think there were only 3), I must say that "La classe américaine" is not my favorite and this by a long way! Had I discovered it first, I would surely have rated it much higher, it sure does have its funny moments, but it is a bit too long for what it gives us... Since there is clearly no plot, you keep expecting jokes for 80 minutes and it does not always succeed to keep your attention alive...

I feel compelled to tell you to watch "ça détourne" aka "Le triomphe de Bali-Balo ou la splendeur de la honte" instead... It lasts only 45 minutes, but of pure condensed fun without a single time-out. Seeing Steve Mc Queen as a "serial joker" is quite unique and leaves "La classe américaine" a bit behind. The third one "Derrick vs Superman" is the poorest of the series, fortunately, it lasts only 15 minutes and has a few good moments...

I'm still wondering how Canal + may have produced such a bombshell...Producing a movie sampling so much 70s classics surely was a producer's nightmare but, hey, it was worth the pain! George Abitbol, aka John Wayne, aka the hippest man on earth, disappears leaving only a few words..."Shitty world". Reminds you of Citizen Kane? Well, that's it and this is not the only movie you'll be thinking of, as the whole movie is sampled from all-time classics, with Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford or Steve Mc Queen on his trail...You'll also have cameos of Ernest Borgnine, Jean-Michael Vincent and so on...In fact, if you happened to watch TV during the last 2 decades, you have already seen that movie, just not in that order! The work on the editing of the whole is simply brilliant, and should be studied in any audiovisual school... If you love stupid humor, irreverence and smart dumb-a$$ jokes, this one is for you!If there was a reason to learn french, this is it, as I really don't know how this can be translated... This is definitely a must-see for anyone willing whether to pee his pants, or learn french or editing.Run for it!

The montage of this movie is so perfect it should be serve as a reference for any cinema student. I can't imagine how long it took to the directors to write the script, select the scenes, rewrite the script, reselect the scenes again and again...The dubbing work is just amazing too. I showed the movie to some Spanish friends, and even though they do not speak a French word, they were nearly as much dumbstruck as I was! Obviously, it's no surprise acting is nearly perfect given the prestigious cast (the best ever?).

Oh, and don't forget to watch the movie several times. They are a lot of funny and subtle tricks in there.