Last year The Artist won the Oscar in Los Angeles, but it was a small comedy film that stole the limelight in France to become the highest-grossing film in the country.
WIN TICKETS The Intouchables opens in Bangkok next Thursday. The Bangkok Post , in co-operation with Sahamongkol Film Intl, is giving away five double passes to the sneak preview of the film on Monday, at SF World CentralWorld at 8pm. Email us at intouchables.bkkpost@gmail.com and answer this simple question: Who are the two lead actors in the film? We will inform the winners by email this weekend. Please make sure you can make it to the screening on Monday evening before participating.
In crisis-stricken Europe, people looking for a laugh queued up to buy 21 million tickets to see the movie.
The Intouchables is a funny and moving French film about an ex-con hired to be the personal assistant to a wealthy quadriplegic. Based on a true story, film stars Omar Sy and Francois Cluzet play the lead roles, and together they spin out humour and touching moments as the relationship between the two men _ in the formula of an odd couple _ unfolds.
The film was also named the Cultural Event of 2011 in France, and Sy won the Best Actor gong at the 2012 Cesar Awards, beating Jean Dujardin from The Artist. Sy became the first black actor to ever win the award.
The Intouchables was directed by Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache. Here Toledano speaks about the making of the film (courtesy of the Thai distributor Sahamongkol Film Intl).
How did you come upon the story of The Intouchables?
It was the documentary A La Vie, La Mort. It depicted this relationship between these two guys and we found it moving and humourous. It had every ingredient you needed to build a good script and make a good movie. It was love at first sight with the subject.
Was it easy to translate the story into a film?
We spent a year writing the screenplay to meet the expectations of the people that inspired the movie. The subject was amazing for us.
Were the people into the idea of this film being made?
Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, directors of The Intouchables .
We were not the first to ask for the rights, but we were lucky because they loved our work. They asked that we make it a comedy and that it would not be a parody, but a real comedic story.
Did you have Francois Cluzet and Omar Sy in mind for the roles from the beginning?
Not Francois, to be honest. We made a movie with Omar before and wrote this especially for him. If he had said no, the movie would probably not exist today. For Francois it was different. He's one of the bigger actors in France, so we were very pleased when he said yes.
How difficult was it to direct Francois as a quadriplegic?
We just told him to do nothing and play with his eyes. The eyes were his instrument. If you see the poster for the movie you'll see that we show the eyes and a special look that he has. When we showed the movie to Philippe Pozzo di Borgo, the man who inspired the character, he had beautiful words about Francois and said: "Since my accident I avoid looking in the mirror because it's not very nice to see a broken guy in the mirror. When I saw your movie, I saw my look and it has been a long time since I've seen my eyes."
It was the best compliment you could ever make to an actor.
Were you surprised at how the film exploded in France and the response it received?
It was impossible to think about this kind of reaction. You can do two- or three-million admissions in France and you are a big success. But US$90 million _ it's so preposterous and you can't imagine it. We're very proud and happy that the reception of the movie is so great.
Are you involved with the American remake at all?
Not really. We just met with Paul Feig, who did Bridesmaids, and he's going to direct it.
We keep in touch with Harvey Weinstein who told us they approached Colin Firth, who is a great choice for the movie. And that's really all our involvement. We're trying to get out of the movie now and get another project going.
Do you have any interest in doing a Hollywood movie?
We're interested in working with Anglo-Saxon actors, but don't really want to work in the Hollywood system. We are very free in Europe.
We have the final cut, the final decision, and no one can fire us during the shooting. Now that we have this international success we'd love to work with American actors in Europe. Everything is open now and we have to make a good choice.
