Gaston Lagaffe (2018)

Gaston gets hired as an intern. With its wacky inventions he puts the daily life of his colleague's on stilts. Our brilliant hobbyist experience crazy adventures with a cat, a gull, a cow and the Flat Vid Phone.

Director:

Pierre-François Martin-Laval

Writers:

Pierre-François Martin-Laval (scenario and adaptation), Mathias Gavarry (scenario and adaptation)

Stars:

Théo Fernandez, Pierre-François Martin-Laval, Arnaud Ducret

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Théo Fernandez	...	Gaston
Pierre-François Martin-Laval	...	Prunelle
Arnaud Ducret	...	Longtarin
Jérôme Commandeur	...	De Mesmaeker
Alison Wheeler	...	Mademoiselle Jeanne
Franc Bruneau	...	Lebrac
Christophe Canard	...	Boulier
Sébastien Chassagne	...	Raoul
Maka Sidibe	...	Jeff (as Maka Sidibé)
Charlotte Gabris	...	Sonia
Jimmy Labeeu	...	Jules de chez Smith en face
Estéban	...	Bertrand Labévue (as Esteban)
Silvie Laguna	...	Mademoiselle Kiglouss
Léon Plazol	...	Edern
Anne Benoît	...	Le médecin (as Anne Benoit)

Storyline

Gaston gets hired as an intern. With its wacky inventions he puts the daily life of his colleague's on stilts. Our brilliant hobbyist experience crazy adventures with a cat, a gull, a cow and the Flat Vid Phone.

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Plot Keywords:

cow | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Did You Know?

Trivia

In the film, Gaston works as an intern at an e-commerce startup company. In the original comic, he works at a book publisher (namely at Dupuis, the company which actually published the Gaston Lagaffe comics).

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Goofs

When Boulier is hit by the spring door, the blackened tooth used to give the impression he lost a tooth in the process is very visible in several shots.

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Connections

References The Pink Panther (1963)

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Soundtracks

At Last
Performed by Etta James

User Reviews

Difficult marriage of modern film and classic cartoon

In Belgium, André Franquin is an icon among cartoon authors, the creator of, inter alia, Spirou et Fantasio (Robbedoes en Kwabbernoot, in the Dutch translated version) and... Gaston Lagaffe (Guust Flater). "Une gaffe", "een flater", is a screw-up, a blunder, a goof (cf. Goofy). The cartoons are old (created in 1957) and they constitute a weekly running gag (of a half or one page) about an office boy. He "works" at the offices of the cartoon journal in which he appears (Spirou), and if he is not sleeping, he spends his time inventing totally useless contraptions. He likes to economise, and he is environment-friendly when no-one ever thought about it. Hence, he drives an ancient Fiat (at least, I believe it is a Fiat) so as not to spend money on a modern car, and he has converted the engine to coal (!) - a World War II necessity when petrol was scarce - so as not to pollute by burning gasoline and to save money. Obviously, the car (when it runs, as it always breaks down) pollutes unbelievably and coal is much more expensive than petrol if used for this purpose. This illustrates perhaps the difficulties a director is up against when he tries to transfer the gags (there is no real story) to the screen. I doubt whether many young viewers know about coal gas, and where would he buy the coal? So, Martin-Laval has tried to modernise the environment and the gags. He has - predictably - succeeded only partially. Nevertheless, the actor who plays Gaston (Théo Fernandez) remarkably resembles the character, with his typical slouch and attitude. Gaston's impossible pets (a cat, OK, but also a grouchy seagull and a goldfish) are (not too good) CGI. Try to imagine keeping a seagull as a permanent pet in an office. This was Monty Python before it was invented. The purists baulk, of course. But if one keeps in mind that this is a children's movie, the makers have not done a bad job. It is good for some laughs, even for adults, if one suspends disbelief. I do not know what the reaction would be of someone who is not familiar with the cartoons, but it may be problematic. I believe this is also the reason for the failure of Tintin as a movie. The connoisseurs hate it and the rest of the audience lacks the full background of the stories.

Details

Country:

France Belgium

Language:

French

Release Date:

4 April 2018 (France)

Also Known As:

Gaston - Katastrophen am laufenden Band

Filming Locations:

Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,348,198

Company Credits

Production Co:

Union Générale Cinématographique (UGC), Les films du premier, Les films du 24

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1