Le Derrière tells the story of a provincial young woman (Lemercier) who, after the death of her mother, goes to Paris to look for her mysterious father (Rich) who is in fact a sympathetic, rich, snobbish and gay figure of the art scene. With the help of gay friends, she makes him believe that she's a boy, and moves to his place. Though this summary makes the movie look like the "Cage aux folles" sort of gay comedies, it's much better than this. Lemercier, a well-known comedian in France, has a bizarre talent for characters who, in spite of being "extreme" or close to caricature, are also touching and complex. She mixes physical (and sometimes gross) comedy with more subtle things (like the relationships between her father and his boy-friend). At the end of the film we really like these people and care for them. The last shot of the movie is a pure delight.
4 Reviews
no special effects but great actors and great story
Leo-9331 May 1999
This comment won't be very long, all i have to say is that the actors are really great, the story doesn't need any special effects to captivate the audience or to get them to go and see the movie. I suppose there will be an American remake in 2 or 3 years time (like for a lot of great European movies)
Coming From Behind
writers_reign15 April 2007
Warning: Spoilers
This was the second of the three (to date) movies directed by Writer-Actress Valerie Lemercier and failed to out-perform her initial effort, a remake of the Sacha Guitry boulevard comedy Quadrille, though I'm delighted to say that her third effort, Palais Royale, was a huge critical and popular success in France.
To a certain extent her success as a comic actress (she won a Best Supporting Actress Cesar for Les Visiteurs, which really put her on the map by virtue of its domestic and International success) has been an albatross around her neck because she is rarely allowed to demonstrate her 'straight' acting skills as she did in Vendredi Soir. She has acted in all three films she directed as her Frederique in Le Derriere is in her tradition of slightly off-the-wall characters that she is uniquely able to humanize. Following in the footsteps of such assorted actresses as Jessie Matthews (First A Girl) Julie Andrews (Victor Victoria) and Barbra Streisand (Yentl) Lemercier drags up to play a boy, initially to gain access to a gay club (don't ask) and later to enter the life of her father (once she has traced him to Paris) who, in middle age is definitely gay, a celebrated art dealer and one half of a long-standing gay relationship. Lemercier is able to score points on two levels simultaneously, the gay versus the straight and the sophisticated gay versus the crude gay (think say, Noel Coward, Terence Rattigan versus Julian Clary/Lily Savage and still, despite a tad of coarseness - as when 'Frederick', out driving with her father and his lover, needs to pee and is obliged to do so against a tree in order to keep up the charade - manages to touch us by the sensitive way she handles the basic situation. A fine film from a fine filmmaker.
To a certain extent her success as a comic actress (she won a Best Supporting Actress Cesar for Les Visiteurs, which really put her on the map by virtue of its domestic and International success) has been an albatross around her neck because she is rarely allowed to demonstrate her 'straight' acting skills as she did in Vendredi Soir. She has acted in all three films she directed as her Frederique in Le Derriere is in her tradition of slightly off-the-wall characters that she is uniquely able to humanize. Following in the footsteps of such assorted actresses as Jessie Matthews (First A Girl) Julie Andrews (Victor Victoria) and Barbra Streisand (Yentl) Lemercier drags up to play a boy, initially to gain access to a gay club (don't ask) and later to enter the life of her father (once she has traced him to Paris) who, in middle age is definitely gay, a celebrated art dealer and one half of a long-standing gay relationship. Lemercier is able to score points on two levels simultaneously, the gay versus the straight and the sophisticated gay versus the crude gay (think say, Noel Coward, Terence Rattigan versus Julian Clary/Lily Savage and still, despite a tad of coarseness - as when 'Frederick', out driving with her father and his lover, needs to pee and is obliged to do so against a tree in order to keep up the charade - manages to touch us by the sensitive way she handles the basic situation. A fine film from a fine filmmaker.
Henry Mancini
cbcsvd18 September 2001
I saw "Le Derriere" for the second time, this time on Belgian television, and I enjoyed it as much as I did when it was released in 1999.
It is really amazing to see that the last movie where the composer Henry Mancini is credited after his death is a French one. I don't know how they had this idea of using Mancini music to score this movie. But I find this a brilliant idea. Actually the theme is even better used in this movie than in the original Blake Edwards' movie.
Just a small remark: to my opinion there is a mistake in the end credits: the Mancini theme does not come from the 3rd movement of the "Beaver Valley Suite'37" (Sons of Italy) but more simply from one of the Pink Panther movies(the Inspector Clouseau theme).
It is really amazing to see that the last movie where the composer Henry Mancini is credited after his death is a French one. I don't know how they had this idea of using Mancini music to score this movie. But I find this a brilliant idea. Actually the theme is even better used in this movie than in the original Blake Edwards' movie.
Just a small remark: to my opinion there is a mistake in the end credits: the Mancini theme does not come from the 3rd movement of the "Beaver Valley Suite'37" (Sons of Italy) but more simply from one of the Pink Panther movies(the Inspector Clouseau theme).
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
