The Intouchables (Intouchable)

This week's film is our first with subtitles in a midweek slot for quite a while.  Does The Artist, as a silent film, really count?   Before this I can only think of Let The Right One In, and that was several years ago.

Anyway here are the notes:

The Intouchables (Intouchable)

France 2011                 113 minutes

Director:                      Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano

Starring:                        Francois Cluzet and Omar Sy

Awards and Nominations

• Nominated for Golden Globe (Best Foreign Language Film)
• A further 13 wins and 31 nominations including Best Actor Award for Omar Sy in the Cesar Awards in France

“The premise of Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano’s comic drama is not unlike The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and it, too, is based on a true story. Unlike Julian Schnabel’s rarefied exploration of paralysis, however, the film itself is as broad, accessible and trombonishly unsubtle as a subtitled Driving Miss Daisy.”

Robbie Collin

Philippe (Cluzet), a quadriplegic Parisian millionaire hires a strapping black immigrant from a broken home in the bainlieues as his live in career and the men strike up a mischievous camaraderie.

The film is based on a the true story of Philippe Pozzo di Borgo and Abdel Sellou depicted in the documentary film A la vie, a la mort.  

The Intouchables was an enormous box office and critical hit in France where Omar Sy unexpectedly won the Cesar for Best Actor rather Jean Dujardin for his role The Artist.  In September 2012 it was announced that the film had been selected as the French entry for the Best Foreign Language Film for the 2013 Academy Awards, but ultimately it was not included as one of the final nominees.

 

Here's the trailer: