Welcome to the Sticks (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

5 wins & 9 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

Instead of using well known dialects for the German dubbed version, the dubbing studio created a completely new fictional dialect with as much similarity to the original French ch'ti dialect as possible.

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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

Spin-off La ch'tite famille (2018)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

France is much more than just Paris!

This movie is easily the best French film that has come out in the last years. It is an excellent comedy with the two great actors Dany Boon and Kad Merad but the movie has also its philosophical, dramatical and sad parts.

This movie is extremely funny, it is really difficult to make me laugh but this film made me laugh really hard several times. The best examples are when the postman and his director are having some drinks with half of the town while they deliver the letters or the scenes in the old mining town of Bergues, This movie is extremely touching and emotional. When the excellent Kad Merad tells his new partners and friends about his lies and mistakes, you feel really sad and ashamed for him. The movie's finale is also very emotional and a perfect and really philosophical conclusion.

But the real star of the movie is the whole region, the Nord-Pas-de-Calais, where this movie is settled. This film presents strange and funny accents of the Sticks, their historical and charming towns, their way of living and thinking, their relation to the other parts of France and the clichés and prejudices about both sides. The Nord-Pas-de-Calais is more than just a part of France, it is a country within a country and a culture within a culture. I have been in this region for some weeks during an exchange program and I can tell that those people living there are mostly open-minded, very sympathetic and have many reasons to be proud of their region. I really like this movie as it reminds me of a few very positive and unforgettable memories. And I like the movie because it is different and finally a French film that doesn't present us Paris over and over again. The France is way more than just Paris and there are many beautiful and unique regions and people to discover and this successful and charming movie shows this to all the people out there.

For everyone that is interested in a touching, emotional and simply profound comedy movie or anyone that likes foreign cultures and lifestyles, this unique movie is an absolute masterpiece. I hope that other French regions will follow this example and make similar movies in the future and take the focus off Paris a little bit.