À gauche en sortant de l'ascenseur (1988)

Yan is a successful artist. One day he is waiting for his date Florence to turn up at his apartment. As the doorbell rings, he finds another young woman in underwear on his doorstep: his ... See full summary »

Director:

Édouard Molinaro

Writers:

Gérard Lauzier (play), Gérard Lauzier (screenplay)

Stars:

Pierre Richard, Richard Bohringer, Emmanuelle Béart

Cast

Cast overview:
Pierre Richard	...	Yann Ducoudray
Richard Bohringer	...	Boris
Emmanuelle Béart	...	Éva
Fanny Cottençon	...	Florence Arnaud
Pierre Vernier	...	André Arnaud
Jean-Michel Dupuis	...	Jean-Yves
Martine Maximin	...	Marilda
Albert Simono	...	L'automobiliste
Aïna Walle	...	Natacha
Eric Blanc	...	Un agent de police
Michel Creton	...	Le brigadier
Mireille Audibert	...	La femme de la galerie

Storyline

Yan is a successful artist. One day he is waiting for his date Florence to turn up at his apartment. As the doorbell rings, he finds another young woman in underwear on his doorstep: his neighbor Eva! She tells him she locked herself out of her apartment and insists that he helps her. Whilst Yan is trying to enter Eva's apartment via their adjoining balcony, his phone rings. It is Florence, and she is not impressed when a female voice answers the phone. At this point, Eva's rabidly jealous boyfriend Boris returns home. Seeing Yan in his apartment, he deduces that Eva has been having an affair behind his back. Florence then turns up and Yan tries in vain to explain the situation. By chance, Florence's husband suddenly puts in an appearance. After that, it all starts to get a bit complicated.

---

Plot Keywords:

farce | based on play | 

---

Genres:

Comedy

---

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

31 August 1988 (France)

Also Known As:

Door on the Left as You Leave the Elevator

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fideline Films,Orly Films,Renn Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

User Reviews

Very funny situational comedy with no slapstick

This is one of the funniest comedies I've seen.

Let's get this part out of the way: There is no reliance on slapstick, no people slipping on carpets or banana peels, no falling, pies thrown on people's faces, etc. There is no disgusting stuff, such as someone eating something dirty, having a condom on their hair, etc. No toiler humor.

The jokes are universal, even with subtitles and being distant from that era, it's still really funny. There is no reliance on pop culture references, current events, etc. which often leads to films losing their humor over time. Yes, Tom Cruise going crazy over Oprah's sofa was funny, but it won't be funny when people don't get the reference 30 years from now. This film doesn't rely on reference, it's funny on its own.

One thing thing that makes this film even funnier is that it's just a comedy. There is no drama, no bigger story. Many modern comedies are dramas with lots of jokes. An example is Knocked Up, which is at the end of the day the story of an unlikely couple getting together to raise a baby. Then there are comedies like 22 Jump Street that have a lot of action.

There is no action here, no drama, just laughs from start to end.

It has a Seinfeldian quality to it, not just that they both look old now, but I could compare this film to Seinfeld's air-conditioner/parking lot episode or the Chinese restaurant episode. There is an absurdist element to it too. It also has that Larry David style of intertwining events. Some comedies, especially road trip formats, offer a series of events, one after the other, but they have no consequence on each other. This one, in Larry David style, has a domino effect. Every event has a consequence on the next, every character interacts with every character and furthers the story.

Finally, this film does remind me of Le Diner de Cons in its style.

I give this film 8.6, rounding up to 9/10 for IMDb. Highly recommended as a comedy.