Les Visiteurs (1993)
Directed by Jean-Marie Poiré

Film Review

Up until 1993, only three films made in France exceeded the ten million audience count which conferred instant cult status - La Grande vadrouille (1966), Le Corniaud (1965) and 3 hommes et un couffin (1985).  The fourth film to achieve this remarkable feat was Les Visiteurs, the ultimate clash-of-cultures comedy which, to a British audience at least, can't help looking like a flagrant rip-off of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) and the first (and best) Blackadder series from 1983.  In what is effectively a reversal of Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, this spirited Gallic romp sees a resourceful knight (Jean Reno) and his malodorous vassal (Christian Clavier) projected from the Middle Ages into present-day France, with predictable laugh-a-minute consequences.

The film was written and directed by Jean-Marie Poiré, who had already notched up a series of highly popular comedies (including a fair number of cult favourites) with the assistance of members of the legendary comic troupe Le Splendid.  Comdy tour de forces such as Le Père Noël est une ordure (1982) and Papy fait de la résistance (1983) had already established Poiré as one of the leading mainstream French filmmakers of his day, but the phenomenal success of Les Visiteurs must have surpassed even his expectations.  Attracting an audience in France of 13.8 million, and a comparable sized audience on its international release, it was the French film hit of the decade, and presently occupies fifth place in the list of the most successful French films of all time.

Les Visiteurs benefited from what (at the time) was a colossal budget of 50 million francs, which was partly raised by some pretty gratuitous product placement throughout the film (notably a king-size bottle of Chanel No. 5).  With lavish production values not seen in a mainstream French comedy for over a decade, the film makes an immediate impression with its enjoyably silly romp through the Dark Ages, complete with some uproariously funny bodily mutilation of the Monty Python variety and Lord of the Rings-style sorcery.  After this dazzling effects-laden intro, the film suddenly smash cuts into (to coin a phrase) something completely different - the classic clash of cultures comedy with two fugitives from the past wondering what to make of such modern conveniences as the flush lavatory and electric light switches.

For the next hour or so, Les Visiteurs ambles along amiably enough without much in the way of a discernible plot, relying on a constant stream of obvious but effective visual gags to carry it through.  Our two temporarily displaced heroes meet up with two of their descendents, in the form of a doctor's wife (Valérie Lemercier) and prissy hotelier (Clavier again), and a homeless thespian (Marie-Anne Chazel), all of whom have their lives upended by this unlikely blast from the past.  Last seen together on Poiré's previous hit comedy L'Opération Corned Beef (1991), Clavier, Reno and Lemercier make the most of the somewhat lame material they are given, although it is Chazel who manages to bag most of the laughs as a delightfully ditsy comedy sparring partner to the ever-dependable Clavier.  Let down by its obvious lack of narrative content and paucity of original gags, Les Visiteurs falls way short of the entertainment value offered by earlier Poiré comedy extravaganzas but it has what it takes to be a comedy classic (just).

Critical reaction to Les Visiteurs on its first release in 1993 was generally positive and it garnered nine César nominations in 1994, in categories that included Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor (both Reno and Clavier), although it won only one award, for Best Supporting Actress (Lemercier). The film's success led, inevitably, to an American remake - Just Visiting (Les Visiteurs en Amérique) (2001) - but this failed to make much of an impact, either in France or in the English-speaking world.  Far more successful were Poiré's two sequels - Les Couloirs du temps: Les Visiteurs 2 (1998) and Les Visiteurs : La Révolution (2016), which, despite some pretty negative reviews, achieved audiences of 8 million and two million respectively.

Film Synopsis

The year is 1122 and the kingdom of the Franks is locked in a seemingly interminable war against the Norman kings of England.  Luckily for the Franks, King Louis VI, nicknamed Le Gros, can count on the loyal support of such valiant knights as Godefroy de Papincourt, Count of Montmirail.  After his latest successful campaign, the latter returns to reclaim his lands and marry his betrothed, Frénégonde de Pouille.  On the way, the fearless Count falls foul of a witch, who subjects him to an enchantment that causes him to mistake his future father-in-law for a bear, which he duly kills.  His marital plans scuppered, Godefroy wishes he could travel back in time and prevent this disaster from occurring.  His wish is granted by the sorcerer Eusaebius, but owing to a small oversight (he forgot to include quails' eggs in his magic potion) Godefroy and his faithful vassal Jacquouille la Fripouille are transported several centuries into the future.

Arriving in France in the late 20th century, the medieval duo are astonished by the remarkable sights that greet their eyes - huge metal birds that fly in the sky, strange horseless chariots that roll along faster than the wind down impossibly smooth tracks, and congregations of stone structures that look like shrines to a deity that has no concept of beauty.  After seeking sanctuary in a church, Godefroy meets up with a woman who strikes him as the exact likeness of his fiancée Frénégonde.  This turns out to be one of his distant descendents, Béatrice, who has recently been forced to sell her château to a snobbish parvenu, Jacquart.

Godefroy is sick to the gills when he learns that Jacquart is a descendent of his filthy low-born servant Jacquouille, all the more so when it becomes apparent that Jacquart intends converting his precious château into a luxury hotel.  Godefroy's hopes of returning to the 12th century are encouraged when he discovers a message in the dungeon of his château, identifying the one man who might be able to send him back in time.  Meanwhile, Jacquouille has taken a distinct liking to twentieth century living, having struck up an unlikely friendship with an unemployed actress named Ginettte.  Unlike his master, Jacquouille in no hurry to return to his past, and in the end it is Jacquart, not him, who makes the return trip...