Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis (2008)

A French public servant from Provence is banished to the far North. Strongly prejudiced against this cold and inhospitable place, he leaves his family behind to relocate temporarily there, with the firm intent to quickly come back.

Director:

Dany Boon

Writers:

Dany Boon, Alexandre Charlot (dialogue)

Stars:

Kad Merad, Dany Boon, Zoé Félix

4 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kad Merad	...	Philippe Abrams
Dany Boon	...	Antoine Bailleul
Zoé Félix	...	Julie Abrams
Lorenzo Ausilia-Foret	...	Raphaël Abrams
Anne Marivin	...	Annabelle Deconninck
Philippe Duquesne	...	Fabrice Canoli
Guy Lecluyse	...	Yann Vandernoout
Line Renaud	...	La maman d'Antoine
Michel Galabru	...	Le grand oncle de Julie
Stéphane Freiss	...	Jean Sabrier
Patrick Bosso	...	Le gendarme A7
Jérôme Commandeur	...	L'inspecteur Lebic
Alexandre Carrière	...	Tony - l'amoureux d'Isabelle
Fred Personne	...	M. Vasseur
Franck Andrieux	...	M. Leborgne

Storyline

Although living a comfortable life in Salon-de-Provence, a charming town in the South of France, Julie has been feeling depressed for a while. To please her, Philippe Abrams, a post office administrator, her husband, tries to obtain a transfer to a seaside town, on the French Riviera, at any cost. The trouble is that he is caught red-handed while trying to scam an inspector. Philippe is immediately banished to the distant unheard of town of Bergues, in the Far North of France. Leaving his child and wife behind, the crucified man leaves for his frightening destination, a dreadfully cold place inhabited by hard-drinking, unemployed rednecks, speaking an incomprehensible dialect called Ch'ti. Philippe soon realizes that all these ideas were nothing but prejudices and that Bergues is not synonymous with hell...

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Plot Keywords:

northern france | drunken man | alcoholic drink | alcohol | provence | 

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Taglines:

Über 20 Millionen Franzosen können nicht irren! [German release]

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Russia]

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

27 February 2008 (France)

Also Known As:

Willkommen bei den Sch'tis

Filming Locations:

Autoroute A7, France

Box Office

Budget:

€11,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

€20,873,413 (France), 2 March 2008, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$1,477,650

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$246,622,067

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pathé Renn Productions, Hirsch, Les Productions du Chicon

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

With 25.5 million euros, it holds the record for the highest first-week intake of a French movie in its home country. Former record holder was French Fried Vacation 3: Friends Forever (2006).

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Crazy Credits

after the movie, while the closing credits scroll over the screen, some outtakes are shown.

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Connections

Referenced in Bis (2015)

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Soundtracks

Le plat pays
(1962)
Written and interpreted by Jacques Brel

User Reviews

I love this movie

If this film meets such a great success, it's just because people recognize themselves in those characters. Well, they are not politically correct (alcoolism) but in these days when life is so difficult for the middle and low class French people, this movie is refreshing and helps you forget everything else. It's also a great lesson of tolerance. Nobody should never have pre-built ideas about a country or an area and his people. Dany Boon describes the world he knows. It's the same world that a lot of French people know, maybe not in Paris, but in the villages, in the country. For once, we have a movie with real people, real life stories of simple people. And maybe people wants to see this from time to time, instead of crimes and violence. Personnaly, I think this movie approaches the Marcel Pagnol movies. Two days ago, 12,592,762 seats where sold. 12,592,762 people cannot be wrong.