Beyond Metal: Louis De Funes

  

Due to too many posts waiting in the queue, I decided to release them this week in the global language only - Polscy czytelnicy wybaczcie!

The undisputed king of comedy actors, along with Rowan Atkinson, Cezary Pazura, Ed O' Neill, Jim Carrey, Steve Carell and Leslie Nielsen.

Despite being a rather dynamic person in movies, he was actually shy and distanced in his private life. The movie that started his career was certainly the cult classic Le Gendarme de St. Tropez (1964 - almost 20 years after his screen debut), which not surprisingly, started a whole series of films.

From then now on, in a way Mr. De Funes got classified as a comedic actor which for many of actors is considered a "curse", as there is a general opinion, that the real "art" belongs to dramatic acting. I tend to disagree, and for me Comedy >>>>>>>> Drama, as this genre not only makes you laugh, but also feel, think, and teach valuable moral lessons as well.

The reason that comedy is not treated seriously by "snob" artists was well explained in "The Name of The Rose" by Umberto Eco. They are afraid of satire, because it would reveal the real truth about themselves, that despite their "greatness", they are still humans, and are prone to weaknessess and embarrassment. To understand comedy, is to understand life. I mean, look at our world, look at our species, look at our history - isn't it hilariously stupid? And the idea that you can just laugh things off, it disturbs the "other". When you'll dissect everything you know, and realize the core of all of your problems, you'll start laughing, because it's all so silly, when you think about it. And this is exactly what makes comedy such a serious weapon. But comedies can also teach us important lessons about morality and our ideals. Not to mention, that comedies help us relieve our stress, which so often kills us. And I'm not saying you should be funny all the time, because there is a time for tears as much as there is a time for laughter, but comedy is so often neglected, and we are wilfully rejecting it, while it can give us a different perspective on our problems. But that's the issue, people are damn serious all the time, and they can't find the middle ground (that should be my another tag), towards which, the comedy is trying to bring us closer.

Digression aside, Mr. De Funes cemented his position with other movies like Fantômas trilogy, Le Corniaud (1965), Le grand restaurant (1966), La grande vadrouille (1966), Les Grandes Vacances (1967), Oscar (1967), Hibernatus (1969), La folie des grandeurs (1971), Sur un arbre perché (1971), Les aventures de rabbi Jacob (1971), L'aile ou la cuisse (1976), La Zizanie (1978), L’avare (1980) * and my favorite, La Soupe aux choux (1981), which is also the final film of Mr. De Funes, before his untimely death in 1983. The list is incomplete, and I'm sure that people would probably add even more movies to this already massive list.

Someone did the greatest review for La Soupe aux choux one could think of, to which I show the link below (it's in Polish only, so I hope that this can amend the otherwise lack of Polish language this week):

(hey, I finally learned how to embed! open le champagne, plaisir moi)

As one can see from the dates, the most succesful period belongs to 60s, mostly 1964-1969. It would be foolish to dismiss these movies as comedy only. For example, the iconic "Sur un arbre perché" resolves around the simple premise of three people in a car that was about to crash, stuck on a tree growing on a cliff, and it simply evolves into kafkaesque surreal and absurd commentary on society as a whole, with plenty of metaphors about French postwar society. There are also iconic (yes, I will overuse that word, sue me) adapations of playwright, like Oscar (Claude Magnier), or "L'avare" (Molière), which no one else manage to translate properly to film.

I am perfectly aware that for many "modern" viewers, Mr. De Funes sensibilities and style might feel dated, but I still recommend watching these movies, not only to feel these "good old times before we were born", but also because these movies are actually a very good food for mind, they will make you think a lot, long after they end. It's certainly a better option than many empty calories presented by the current media.

Cheers 

* let's not pretend you don't know which movies I am talking about. You can very easily guess it. And I know it.