With a little help from my friends

"The Intouchables" is a crowd-pleaser of a foreign film with some interesting, thought-provoking content and characters. Our CineVerse group took a look under the hood of this high-revving vehicle and came away with the following assessment:

WHAT DID YOU FIND INTERESTING, DIFFERENT, OR SURPRISING ABOUT THIS FILM?

• It’s actually based on a true story, which gives the characters, setup, and situations more credibility and relevance.

• It’s a buddy picture, but it uses the formula of a romantic comedy to underscore the friendship and camaraderie between the two male leads.  This is a platonic relationship, but the viewer feels the love and affection between the two men.  Consider the classic structure it follows: man meets man, man loses man, man gets man back, with a twist: the returned man is replaced by a woman.

• Also, unlike other buddy pictures, the film does not employ toilet humor, raunchy subplots, or ridiculous action sequences in an attempt to entertain us.

• The filmmakers are not afraid to give us a character who can be irritating, politically incorrect, inappropriate, and annoying; Driss often acts entitled, insensitively, and without a filter.  Yet, he is the force that gives the film life, energy, exuberance, and humor.

• Additionally, the movie arguably refrains from maudlin and over sentimental tones, refusing, for example, to wallow in sympathy for Driss or Philippe and their respective situations.  Likewise, Driss doesn’t feel sorry for Philippe and vice versa, which endears each of these characters to one another and saves the movie from devolving into a Lifetime Channel flick or Hallmark melodrama.

• Similarly, the film broaches topics and subject matter that normally be depressing and heavy, but applies an uplifting and comical approach to make for a very crowd-pleasing movie.

• The film has strong French sensibilities, and plays well as a foreign movie, inviting Americans into a cultural landscape that is refreshingly different from our own; however, as some critics have pointed out, The Intouchables has an “American flavor”, which makes it appealing to U.S. audiences.  It very much feels like a Hollywood movie.  

THIS FILM HAS BEEN ACCUSED BY SOME CRITICS AS BEING RACIALLY INAPPROPRIATE.  DO YOU AGREE, AND IF SO, WHY?

• For some film critics, scholars, and analysts, Driss falls within the category of the “Magical Negro”, a term used to describe a token black character who aids a white protagonist in completing his quest or mission.  Past films with such a character include The Green Mile, The Legend of Bagger Vance, and The Defiant Ones.

• Detractors of this movie say that it perpetuates offensive racial tropes and stereotypes, and “Uncle Tom racism”.  Consider that their real Driss is Middle Eastern, which begs the question, why did they turn him into a black character?

• One reviewer from the New York Times insisted that the film used caricatures that are “astonishingly brazen, as ancient comic archetypes –a pompous master and a clowning servant right out of Moliere – are updated with vague social relevance, an overlay of Hollywood-style sentimentality, and a conception of race that might kindly be called cartoonish.”

• Daphnee Denis, blogger for Slate.com, wrote: “In Variety, Jay Weissberg describes it as “the kind of Uncle Tom racism one hopes has permanently exited American screens.” Stephen Holden in the New York Times says the film exploits “every hoary stereotype of the black man as cultural liberator.” In their words, Omar Sy, who plays Driss, is a French Viola Davis, only more compromised: Like the Oscar-nominated actress from The Help, they express regret that Sy is getting his due as an actor for such a demeaning role—in this case, the part of a “Magical Negro.”

• However, defenders of the picture indicate that Driss is not a token black character, and that both Philippe and Driss aid each other.  Consider that the character of Driss is fleshed out more and given a more considerable back story than Philippe, whose back story hinted at, only talked about, and given less emphasis. 

• Note, as well, that Driss grows and matures as the picture progresses.  Through his experiences with Philippe, he learns to care more about people, including his brother, Philippe’s daughter, and his mother/aunt.  He also demonstrates a greater appreciation for art and music, such as recognizing Dali and Vivaldi when he sees and hears their works. 

• Denis noted: “The movie isn’t really about servitude. While American critics see a modern-day version of a black domestic and his white master, the French see a guy from the projects and a man who needs help to go to the bathroom. Both men have received their fair share of humiliation. Driss has little to no support in life—even his family gives up on him after he gets out of prison. And no one dares get close to Philippe because they’re scared he’ll break. They’re both pariahs, “untouchables.” Yet Driss touches Philippe, and Philippe accepts Driss’s touch.”

HOW DO YOU INTERPRET THE TITLE OF THE FILM: “THE INTOUCHABLES”?

• It could be a play on the popular film “The Untouchables”, also a buddy movie but decidedly more of an action/adventure drama than this drama/comedy.

• While there is no such word as “Intouchables”, the fabricated word could be a play on being “in touch”, suggesting that the two male protagonists have made a strong connection.

FILMS THAT REMIND YOU OF THE INTOUCHABLES:

• Driving Miss Daisy

• The Help

• The Blind Side

• The Soloist

• Lincoln