Linguistic laughs

Hit French comedy Bienvenue chez les ch’tis
is an enjoyable romp grounded in a
misunderstood local dialect

by MALCOLM FRASER

Talk about insider humour—perhaps only in language-conscious France (or maybe in Quebec) would a film whose humour is mostly based in a misunderstood local dialect become a huge hit. In any case, Dany Boon’s Bienvenue chez les ch’tis broke French box-office records when it opened earlier this year. In spite of its ultra-insider nature, however, it turns out to be a pretty damn accessible and enjoyable comedy.

Kad Merad plays Philippe, a middle-aged post-office bureaucrat in southern France who dreams of being transferred to the Côte d’Azur. His temperamental wife Julie (Zoé Félix) has a frosty attitude towards him, believing that his mild-mannered nature is sabotaging his chances of getting the posting. But when his plan to jump the queue by pretending to be handicapped goes predictably wrong, he suffers an even worse fate: a transfer to the northern town of Bergues.

Right away, the particularly French nature of the film asserts itself. It’s something of a relief to find out that as snobby as the French are towards everyone else, they’re even worse with each other. Merad and Félix both act as though moving to the north is an unspeakable punishment.

When Merad meets Antoine, an alcoholic mailman who lives with his mom at 35 (played by director Boon) and the rest of the townspeople, he can’t understand their thick accent and idiosyncratic speech, and treats them with unreserved disdain.

Eventually, he learns to appreciate their homespun authenticity through a series of comic travails, all the while managing a long-distance relationship with Félix and advising Boon on his own romantic issues with the beguiling Annabelle (Anne Marivin). Merad, a familiar face for French film aficionados (he was in five films last year alone, including the romantic farce Je crois que je l’aime), somehow manages to make his snobbish and spineless character sympathetic.

It’s an unabashedly mainstream comedy, full of broad humour and shameless heartstring-tugging—it’s worth noting that the box-office record it broke was previously held by the ultra-lowbrow Les Bronzés 3—but for that, it’s done effectively. Boon is a gifted physical comedian, and his affection for all the characters makes this an enjoyable entertainment as well as a curious glimpse into the French psyche.

Bienvenue chez les ch’tis
opens this Friday, July 25

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