Les Visiteurs
| Les Visiteurs | |
|---|---|
 Film poster |
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| Directed by | Jean-Marie Poiré |
| Produced by | Alain Terzian |
| Written by | Jean-Marie Poiré Christian Clavier |
| Starring | Jean Reno Christian Clavier Valérie Lemercier Christian Bujeau |
| Music by | Eric Lévi (Era) Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy |
| Release date(s) | 27 January 1993 |
| Running time | 107 Minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
| Box office | $98,754,810[1] |
Les Visiteurs (French pronunciation: [le vizitœʁ]; English: The Visitors) is a cult French film directed by Jean-Marie Poiré and released in 1993. In this comedy, a 12th-century knight and his servant travel in time to the end of the 20th century and find themselves adrift in modern society.
Les Visiteurs was the Number 1 box office film in France in 1993, with 13,782,846 ticket sales.[2] The publicity for the film used the tagline Ils ne sont pas nés d'hier ("They weren't born yesterday"). Reno and Clavier reprised their roles in a sequel, and the American remake Just Visiting. The castle of Ermenonville, in Oise département, served as decoration for the castle of Montmirail in the current time and the Castle of Beynac for medieval period.
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[edit] Story
In the year 1123, Godefroy, Count of Appremont and Papincourt, saves the life of his beloved sovereign, King Louis VI "Le Gros" ("The Fat") from the sword of a "horribilis" Englishman.
For this action of bravery, the King makes him Count of Montmirail and promises him the woman he loves, the beautiful Frénégonde de Pouille. On his way to the castle to marry Frénégonde, Godefroy's drinking flask is drugged by the witch he had earlier taken prisoner. Hallucinating, he believes the Duke of Pouille, father of his future wife, is a ferocious bear, and kills him with a crossbow bolt. During the Duke's funeral, Godefroy's servant, the disreputable Baldrick-like[3] Jacquouille la Fripouille, steals the Duke's jewels.
In an attempt to repair his mistake, Godefroy asks the wizard Eusebius to send him back in time to a moment before he shot the Duke. The old wizard muddles his magical spell, accidentally sending Godefroy and Jacquouille to the year 1992. There, they immediately run into trouble with the Gendarmerie after Godefroy tries to destroy a car (which they mistake for a devil's chariot with a Moor in it), they meet Béatrice de Montmirail, an aristocrat who looks exactly like Frénégonde (being her descendant). Jacquouille, meanwhile, is befriended by Ginette la Clocharde, an attractive vagrant they meet early in their adventure.
Béatrice, thinking Godefroy to be her long lost cousin Hubert, takes them back to her home. There, various culture-shock comedy ensues as Godefroy and Jacquouille attempt to fathom modern household appliances.
Seeing the family seal on Godefroy's hand, Beatrice assumes he stole the jewel from the castle de Montmirail, now a hotel. They go there and meet the owner of the castle, the effete Jacques-Henri Jacquard, the unwitting descendant and close likeness of Jacquouille (they react to each other with mutual disgust). The jewel on Godefroy's hand starts to burn as they get closer to the castle, where the present-day version of the seal is. The two seals explode and destroy Jacquard's brand new Range Rover.
Godefroy books a room for the night and finds a secret passage known only to him. There he finds a letter telling him to go to a certain address, where an aged Monsieur Ferdinand, the last descendant of the wizard Eusebius, gives him the potion that will return him to 1123. Jacquouille, however, wants to stay, enjoying Ginette's company and having proved more adaptable than Godefroy in discovering toothpaste (curing the halitosis that made him objectionable in 1123), modern clothing and other amenities of the future. Godefroy finally brings him to the hotel room by force.
While Godefroy is talking with Béatrice, Jacquouille swaps jackets with his descendant, closes the curtains, dims the lights, and puts Jacquard on the bed in his place. In the dark, Godefroy gives Jacquard the potion which then sends him back to the year 1123. Godefroy comes back just in time to stop himself from shooting Frénégonde's father, and the deflected crossbow bolt kills the witch who caused the whole misadventure by drugging Godefroy's flask. The bewildered Jacquard finds himself stranded in the past in the role of Godefroy's servant.
[edit] Cast
- Christian Clavier: Jacquouille la Fripouille (in English, Jacquasse la Crasse) / Jacques-Henri Jacquard
- Jean Reno: Godefroy de Papincourt, Count of Montmirail
- Valérie Lemercier: Frénégonde de Pouille / Béatrice de Montmirail
- Christian Bujeau: Jean-Pierre Goulard
- Marie-Anne Chazel: Ginette la Clocharde
- Isabelle Nanty: Fabienne Morlot
- Gérard Séty: Edgar Bernay
- Didier Pain: Louis VI le Gros (the Fat)
- Jean-Paul Muel: Maréchal-des-Logis Gibon
- Arielle Séménoff: Jacqueline
- Michel Peyrelon: Édouard Bernay
- Pierre Vial: Eusebius the Wizard / Monsieur Ferdinand
- François Lalande: Prêtre
- Didier Bénureau: Doctor Beauvin
- Frédéric Baptiste: Freddy
[edit] Awards and nominations
- César Awards (France)
- Won: Best Actress – Supporting Role (Valérie Lemercier)
- Nominated: Best Actor – Leading Role (Christian Clavier)
- Nominated: Best Actor – Leading Role (Jean Reno)
- Nominated: Best Costume Design (Catherine Leterrier)
- Nominated: Best Director (Jean-Marie Poiré)
- Nominated: Best Editing (Catherine Kelber)
- Nominated: Best Film
- Nominated: Best Music (Eric Levi)
- Nominated: Best Writing (Christian Clavier and Jean-Marie Poiré)
[edit] References
- ^ "Worldwideboxoffice.com". http://www.worldwideboxoffice.com/movie.cgi?title=Les%20Visiteurs&year=1993.
- ^ Laure Kermanac'h (4 April 2008). "Les quinze plus grands succès du cinéma français". Le Figaro. http://www.lefigaro.fr/cinema/2008/03/26/03002-20080326ARTFIG00564-les-quinze-plus-grands-succes-du-cinema-francais.php.
- ^ I'll scream and I'll scream, Film Roundup, Philip French, The Observer, Sunday February 10, 2002
