3 hommes et un couffin (1985)
Directed by Coline Serreau

Film Review

Famous for being the French film which was remade into the American 1987 chart topper 3 Men and a Baby directed by Leonard Nimoy, Trois hommes et un couffin is also one of the most successful comedies to have been made in France. It attracted an audience of 10.3 million on its first release in 1985 and provided a massive boost to the career of the then comparatively low-profile auteur filmmaker Coline Serreau, who followed this with a popular romantic drama Romuald et Juliette (1989).

A astute satire on fatherhood that is both poignant and funny, the film has pretty well the same plot as the American remake, but comes at it from a different, slightly more acerbic, perspective. When the film starts, the arrival of the baby is a cause for bitter acrimony, heated arguments and intense discomfort for the three bachelors.  Yet, despite this, the three men soon become attached to the infant and even end up arguing with each other over who should attend to her.  It is this emotional intensity which gives this film far, far more credibility and impact than the American version, which sacrifices authenticity for some cheap gags.

Although the French film has some terrific comic situations, the humour does not undermine the real-life drama which is the film's main focus.  The film is about how three hedonistic young men manage to cope with the obligations of fatherhood.  Served by three magnificent performances from its three lead actors, the film shows how the arrival of a child can completely change their lives and their behaviour, calling into question assumptions about the role of men in child raising. With typically French subtlety, and with the minimum of sentimentality, Trois hommes et un couffin is simultaneously an engaging, funny and thought-provoking piece of cinema. Almost two decades on, Serreau offered up a sequel, 18 ans après (2003), although this has nothing like the impact of the original film and is one of the director's few misfires.

Film Synopsis

Pierre, Jacques and Michel are three bachelors who contentedly live together in a large apartment right at the heart of Paris.  In the course of a party one evening Jacques agrees to take delivery of a package that a friend will deliver the following day.  Not long after Jacques has jetted off for a few weeks' holiday in the Far East, the package arrives - and Pierre and Michel are surprised to find it is a baby, apparently Jacques's own daughter.  The girl's mother Sylvie was forced to send the baby on to its father because it interfered with her work.  With Jacques not due to return for three weeks, Pierre and Michel are left holding the baby, and have a steep learning curve ahead of them.  Just when things couldn't get any worse, they receive another unexpected package - a parcel containing a large consignment of hard drugs...