Intouchables

I found Intouchables at once funny, refreshing, frustrating, annoying and manipulative.    The initial mad driving, reminiscent of Taxi 1, just to get the teenage part audience in the mood led seamlessly into a demonstration of how not to succeed in a job interview by the main protagonist, Driss.   Of course he does get the job as his quadraplegic employer, multimillionaire Philippe wants to be be cared for by someone who doesn't pity him, forgets that he is even disabled and questions his cultural choices.

The tension between the expectations of the haute-bourgeoise in contrast with the squalid daily life and attitudes of the cité Balzac  provides the platform for humour throughout the play, the mischievous teasing and seducing of Driss enlivening nearly every scene.  The master dragueur's efforts to seduce Magalie, Philippe's PA could offend if the latter were not so competent at giving as good as she gets, leaving Driss amazed at the failure of his previously foolproof methods.

I guess that the overall message of the film is that we should all endeavour to see beyond disability and address the spirit within the person;   as Driss gets to know his boss he applies his own standards to his predicament and as a result gradually improves his standard of life, not the least with judicious use of sex and drugs, albeit in the best possible taste.     It is good that the modification of life style is reciprocal as Driss learns to profit from the gullibility of the art world.

What is particularly interesting is that the story behind the film is based on truth.   I read the book "Le second souffle" by Philippe Pozzo di Borgo before attacking the film and was surprised to find that Abdel, the real Driss, is only a small part of the narrative.    The autobiographical account is mainly about Philippe's relationship with his much loved, late wife to whom there is only a short nod in the film.

While some of the events reflect reality, such as the altercation with the incorrectly parked driver,  the impression I gained was that the scénariste took the main adjectives used to describe Abdel and took it from there:-

"Il est insupportable, vaniteux, orgueilleux, brutal, inconstant, humain.   Sans lui, je serais mort de décomposition....Il m'a fait rire quand je craquais.  Il est mon diable gardien.

The term "diable gardien" would give good substance for an essay.   I may use that in the resources produced for www.alevelfrench.com.  We have produced a set of resources which will enable you to develop systematic language work at the same as reinforcing knowledge of the content of the film.

View the resources here: they include a gapped summary of the film (10 pages), questions, grammar in context, sample essay plan and essay   View summary on www.alevelfrench.com