"Intouchables" - movie

Omg just love non-American black men... Omar Sy is one of my ideals...

:smt054

 

M,the reason some of those American movie critics have that view is because since the early history of film Blacks were heavily stereotyped and there are not too many positive Black characters. You had to look hard in France to find such a Black character since there are very few for example the great Josephine Baker made two movies. Mr Sy appeared like a servant hense the stereotype appearance. Me? As I said again I thought he would a small fling with that redhaired woman but,he did not since the writers made the redhead a lesbian and on the trailer as he was feeding his employer,the homeboy was looking at her nice booty. Plus she played games with him in the movie. Had she just acted normal and just be reticent it would be a flick I would love to see again and again but,that teasing rubbed me the wrong way. Some critics saw Mr.Sy's role as a "magic negro" a Black man who helps his White friends but,not his family.

 

I can definitely see where you're coming from. I didn't see the movie, but I know the type of movie you're talking about. I dislike seeing a black person in a servant role, unless it's a civil rights oriented movie, personally. It makes me very uncomfortable.

 

Soul,

In the video I showed, Omar Sy explained both of the two characters very well. It's deeper and much more complex than "servant" and "master". And all throughout the movie, he tries to help his little cousin and even quit his job to go help him.

As far as the redhead woman, Omar Sy said that she was one of the reason his character took the job. The other reason was the prospect of living in a mansion on the 6th arrondissement etc.
The reason they didn't hook up was because this wasn't a love story and a romance or even a fling would have gotten in the way of the main story.

My interpretation of all this is that Omar Sy's character is so charismatic, so full of joie de vivre that even the red haired, austere looking personal assistant or whatever she was, was a little fond of him. The only reason they didn't hook up was because she was in a relationship. Actually, I think that it's actually a stereotype of lesbian couple as she was portrayed as her being the "man" in her relationship by making her a little bit bossy, as if she hated all men to point of being totally immune to Driss(Omar Sy) charm. Notice how she was the only one not being cool with him? She was hiding deeper feeling.

Trust me, unlike Hollywood, the French aren't shy about portraying IR in a natural way in a mainstream movie.

So you can't see this movie through a racial vacuum. And I am surprised that the two American critics only point out the racial stereotypes and ignore the other cliches: The cool, hip and sympathetic old lady, the rebellious and insolent teenage rich girl, etc. Those have nothing to do with race.

Driss wasn't a servant. He was a friend who keeps it real throughout the movie and his bluntness, instead of offending, made Philippe comfortable because unlike the others, Driss didn't feel sorry for him. This was nothing like "Driving Miss Daisy" and anyone who tries to make a comparison is stretching.

As I said, I am scouring the net to find negative reviews or criticism of the racial stereotypes in this movies by black or whites in France, but I can't find any. So I guess it's just the sociohistorical and cultural difference between France and America.

 

I watched the youtube video again, and the "chroniqueur" and critc Natacha Polony talks about cliche: Driss's mother being a "femme de menage"/Cleaning lady, his little cousin hanging with the hoodlums.

 

Well, that's an excellent point, Machiavel... makes me want to see this movie even more... even if something should make me feel uncomfortable, I have never shied away from that. Anything to learn. Also to see a beautiful black actor in a profound and/or interesting role. Plus I tend to like French cinema. And racial dynamics in movies are intriguing to me (a la "the Blind Side" for an obvious example)...combine it all and I would be glued to the screen.

 

The French still has a long way to go in portraying Blacks in more positive roles. M,I may see your point but,believe me a very few filmmakers have a color-blind attitude when it comes to Blacks on film. On the western side of the continent of Africa there are filmmakers in Nigeria-hope they make a IR flick soon. Belgium on the other hand had not made a IR film. The Intouchables may have won the French Oscars but,outside of France it is a different story altogether. Wished the story was true in real life(the helper is Arab).

 

I agree with you about the French having a long way to go in portraying blacks in more positive roles. But, until blacks in France get influential black filmmakers, that's not going to happen. We and white filmakers have totally different point of view. What we think as positive black characters and roles, they think it might bore the hell out of a predominant white audience and no one will show up. What is completely offensive to us, is hilarious and more realistic to them

Another movie with two black actors came out last year a few month before Intouchables. It's called Case Depart. It didn't get the same success as Intouchables and I was not even remotely interested in watching that one because it's a comedy about...slavery

Many blacks in France were mad, especially the historians and intellectual. The French always claim that black French actors are not bankable, and that the banks/studios etc will not produce a movie with a black actor in the lead with good story unless it's a Denzel, Will Smith etc.

But when someone wrote a script about Case Depart, it got the green light and was distributed. You can look at the trailer here and judge for yourself even though it's in French.

[YOUTUBE]KTyXiVc5jjo[/YOUTUBE]

 

Here are a few French films that deal with IR. I've never seen any of those, but my friend Clohe, a French white girl that lives in Poitiers and who is into brothers big time, told me to visit this site and look for movies that have IR.

http://www.cinefiches.com/voir_film_theme.php?id_theme=3&id_famille=15

I just found 2 movie so far that had IR with the BM WW variety. The other movies seem to have the WM BW type and others.

Here's a trailer from Regarde-moi

[YOUTUBE]2J1yqzR94Bk[/YOUTUBE]


The other one is VERS LE SUD -2005, but I cannot find a clip of it.

http://www.cinefiches.com/film.php?id_film=43280&titre=VERS+LE+SUD&titre2=
Sorry to the OP if I am off topic, just wanted to give Soulthinker some info

 

Wow, that looks so interesting, Machiavel... I love to see how regular and/or not wealthy people live in other countries (although it's a film)...also racial/social/cultural/class dynamics...

So many movies to critique and watch, so little time!