The French sense of humour takes a little getting used to. It’s not very different from English humour in some ways, but enough so that a little self-education in the niceties of style can help a lot. For those who are interested, here are ten films that are easy to watch and are almost guaranteed to make you laugh. Note: these are not heavy satirical things and can all be enjoyed equally before or after several bottles of wine!
Les Visiteurs
The biggest grossing film of 1994 in France, this time-travel flick brought Jean Reno and Christian Clavier to the present day from medieval times. Here, they must find a way back home, while confusing matters by running into their descendants. Plenty of mild slapstick humour and a lot of playing with words (for the people who speak French well) mean that it’s enjoyable either subtitled or in the original language. Watchable by kids and adults alike, though it got a PG rating for a couple of mildly violent bits and swearing.
Le Dîner de Cons
This one requires an understanding of French as it is much more involved with talking and word-play than action. Snobby Thierry Lhermitte invites Jacques Villeret to a ‘diner de cons’ – the idea being to invite the stupidest person possible and get them to talk about their absurd hobbies. They never make it to dinner because Lhermitte puts his back out on the golf course… and Villeret ends up wreaking havoc with his life. An absolutely hilarious film which can be watched repeatedly and manages to be funny every time. Again, a PG because of language.
Taxi
The original Luc Besson film (written in 30 minutes, apparently), before being badly remade for the US audience. This one needs no language skills: although the character interaction is an important part of the film, it is overwhelmed by the stunning action and subtitles will suffice. A taxi driver who always wanted to race cars helps out an incompetent policeman, by accident, and they end up hanging out together and becoming friends. Very funny, very fast-moving and definitely a good choice for the younger crowd. Sami Naceri and Frédéric Diefenthal rocketed to fame with this as their vehicle (excuse the pun). The follow-up, Taxi 2, is also very good but the series goes swiftly downhill afterwards. Beware – there’s a LOT of swearing, gun play and some pot-smoking.
Le Père Noël est une ordure
This is their Monty Python. It’s cult. It’s possibly the best French comedy ever made and most of the population can recite the script. Personally, I don’t think it’s incredible, but it’s such a part of French culture that it’s an absolute must-see. Almost the entire cast are major celebrities in France and the whole film is completely mad from start to finish. Some swearing, pretty gory storyline and it helps to understand French because a lot of the jokes don’t translate. Watch it fifty times. Everyone in France already has.
Les Inconnus
OK, so that’s not a film title – it’s the group of people who make the films. Didier Bourdon, Bernard Campan and Pascal Legitimus. They did TV sketches for quite some time and are quite simply the funniest comedians I have ever seen. Their range is enormous: they parody, they make political comment, they’re absurd, they’re serious, they’re touching, they even sing. Their first film was Les Trois Frères, which was eclipsed by Les Visiteurs at the cinema but was still a massive hit – three step-brothers discover they just inherited a ton of money, but then it all goes wrong. Bourdon and Campan followed this with Le Pari, a film about giving up smoking (not advisable viewing if you’re thinking of doing that, by the way!). In 2001, the three of them released Les Rois Mages, where the Three Wise Men arrive in modern times for the second coming of Christ. This one wasn’t well-appreciated at the cinema, but I loved it. Language skills help with their very intelligent humour, but they are so naturally funny and the films have such good stories that understanding every word isn’t essential. Films for all ages, too.
L’Aile ou La Cuisse
Louis de Funès made a lot of films, but this one is generally accepted as his best. It’s a 70s flick, so be warned that the clothes are pretty scary! De Funès plays the equivalent of the editor of the Michelin restaurant guide, Coluche (a French comic genius) plays his son who’s more interested in being a circus clown. A superb commentary on the rivalry between fast food and traditional French cuisine that makes sense even thirty years later, with lots of jokes, a lot of slapstick humour and plenty of action. Language skills help, as the characters are well-developed, but subtitles would suffice as there’s plenty going on in the story.
Inspecteur la Bavure
Remarkable as Coluche’s funniest film. He died young in a traffic accident and it was a real loss to French comedy because he was not only hilarious, but modest and very intelligent. He even ran for President once. Here he plays a policeman just out of university who graduated bottom of his class. Depardieu plays the bad guy who, after a face lift, uses Coluche to commit his next crime. Of course, the tables get turned. Nice and light and very funny, but language skills are fairly important (or fast reading of subtitles).
Le Plus Beau Métier du Monde
Depardieu plays a teacher at a bourgeois school. When he is caught cheating by his wife and gets divorced, he has to take a job at one of the worst schools in Paris to be near his children. A tougher film, covering adolescent violence, gangs and other social issues, it still manages to be funny and charming. I suppose it’d be called a dark comedy or even drama. Not for the younger audience, but definitely worth seeing if your sense of humour is a little twisted! Language skills help with this one, though subtitles would probably suffice.
Gazon Maudit
Josiane Balasko shines in this one (she co-wrote and directed it), despite a somewhat lacklustre ending. She plays a traveller, a lesbian who by chance ends up stopping at a house where Victoria Abril has just found out that her husband, Alain Chabat, has been cheating on her. A lot. Abril ends up inviting Balasko to stay and a bizarre set of circumstances follow. This one is definitely not for the young – with nude scenes, lesbianism, adultery and some drugs around, the subject matter is somewhat inappropriate. The film itself is very nicely made, even though it pushes the boundaries of the believable. Language skills help a lot here.
Le Placard
Daniel Auteuil plays a grey accountant under threat of being fired. To save his job, he pretends to be homosexual and the string of events that follows turns his life upside-down. Depardieu is here again, in an unexpected role, along with Michel Aumont and Michèle Laroque in superb supporting roles. This one’s of roughly the same weight as Kevin Kline’s In & Out- light, very funny, very touching and beautifully made. It has one scene of sexuality, so may not be for the very young, but otherwise it’s French farce at it’s full-on best – unexpected turns of events, some laugh-out loud moments and a very good story. Everyone I know who has seen this loved it. Language skills not essential, but they help a lot as it’s hard to watch all the well-developed characters at the same time as the subtitles!
