The Intouchables (2011)
"Intouchables" (original title)

After he becomes a quadriplegic from a paragliding accident, an aristocrat hires a young man from the projects to be his caretaker.

Directors:

Olivier Nakache, Eric Toledano

Writers:

Olivier Nakache, Eric Toledano

Stars:

François Cluzet, Omar Sy, Anne Le Ny

Top 250 #62 | Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 20 wins & 31 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
François Cluzet	...	Philippe
Omar Sy	...	Driss
Anne Le Ny	...	Yvonne
Audrey Fleurot	...	Magalie
Joséphine de Meaux	...	La DRH société de courses
Clotilde Mollet	...	Marcelle
Alba Gaïa Kraghede Bellugi	...	Elisa (as Alba Gaïa Bellugi)
Cyril Mendy	...	Adama
Salimata Kamate	...	Fatou
Absa Diatou Toure	...	Mina
Grégoire Oestermann	...	Antoine
Dominique Daguier	...	Amie de Philippe
François Caron	...	Ami de Philippe
Christian Ameri	...	Albert
Thomas Solivéres	...	Bastien, dit le Plumeau

Storyline

In Paris, the aristocratic and intellectual Philippe is a quadriplegic millionaire who is interviewing candidates for the position of his carer, with his red-haired secretary Magalie. Out of the blue, the rude African Driss cuts the line of candidates and brings a document from the Social Security and asks Phillipe to sign it to prove that he is seeking a job position so he can receive his unemployment benefit. Philippe challenges Driss, offering him a trial period of one month to gain experience helping him. Then Driss can decide whether he would like to stay with him or not. Driss accepts the challenge and moves to the mansion, changing the boring life of Phillipe and his employees.

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Plot Keywords:

paragliding | teenage daughter | reference to barack obama | reference to adolf hitler | 2010s | 

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Taglines:

Sometimes you have to reach into someone else's world to find out what's missing in your own.

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Genres:

Biography | Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook [fr] Official Facebook [uk]

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

2 November 2011 (France)

Also Known As:

The Intouchables

Filming Locations:

Cabourg, Calvados, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$103,507 (USA) (25 May 2012)

Gross:

$13,179,837 (USA) (11 January 2013)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Quad Productions, Chaocorp, Gaumont

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The sports car Driss is driving for Philippe is a Maserati Quattroporte.

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Goofs

There are two different Maseratis used in the film. In the opening scene, there is a different car used for the fast part of the car chase - notably a Quattroporte GTS 4.2 that can be identified by a chrome mesh grill and four exhausts. At the part where they are stopped by the police, a different front grill can be seen with vertical segments, and when they drive off two large exhausts are visible. It is one of the 4.7 versions of the Quatroporte. The 4.7 version of the car is again shown when later Driss gets in the car for the first time.

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Quotes

Philippe: Hope well and have well.

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Connections

Featured in The 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2013)

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Soundtracks

"Le vol du Bourdon"
Music by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Performed by Le Capriccio Français

User Reviews

One of the Most Unique and Beautiful Friendships ever Committed to Film

Do not look at this through the prism of "Foreign Films". You'd be wasting your time and miss something far too important.

Hollywood does scale like nobody else, leaving the competition gasping in its wake. France does intimacy, and brutality. Nothing is sacred. And rather than try to revive the New Wave or emulate Hollywood like most widely seen French films of late, "Intouchables" harnesses its core strengths - ease with intimacy, willingness to ridicule anything and brutal honesty - and delivers one of the funniest, most honest and touching films I have ever seen.

Sy is a failed robber, going through the motions and playing the stereotypical jobless émigré. Cluzet is a romantic and melancholy mind trapped in a useless body. The circumstances that bring them together are too funny to spoil here, but meet they do, and an awkward relationship quickly blossoms as they bring out the best in each other.

The film's simplicity is delightfully misleading: the script is a masterpiece of comedy writing, and however good the rest of the cast is, the central duo is magical. Sy's comic timing will have you in stitches, but it is his honesty and vulnerability that make you fall in love with the character. Cluzet isn't your typical sad-sack, instead, much of the finest pleasures in the film consist in watching him use his keen mind to mess with the world around him (a subplot about an abstract painting really takes the biscuit, you'll know it when you see it).

This is one of the most unique, beautiful and honest friendships ever committed to film. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry... a delightful celebration of everything in life that makes it worthwhile.