Let’s be fair. It’s been a shit year. We’ve all needed, at various times, a little pick-me-up and I have found just the film to provide it. The Intouchables or Untouchable, as is the release title in the UK, is one of those films that can’t fail but make you smile. It proved so popular and successful that there was even an Americanised remake, The Upside. For the love of God, don’t watch that instead. The Intouchables may not be a masterpiece of cinema in terms of innovative direction, it is just a simple story beautifully told and brilliantly acted.
The plot revolves around the aristocratic Phillipe (played by Francois Cluzet) who is a quadriplegic and requires a round-the-clock carer in his beautiful Paris home. Driss, (Omar Sly) a poor immigrant living on an estate, simply comes to the interview to get a signature so that he can continue receiving welfare benefits. Instead, Phillipe hires him and they begin to build an unconventional friendship.
A lot of the comedy of the film comes in the traditional ‘fish out of water’ narrative and the contrast between Driss and Phillipe’s upbringings and interests. However, where it really excels is in the way it deals with the disability element. There are times when Phillipe is even the butt of the joke, with Driss teasing him for some of his limitations. Yet, this is never awkward or mean-spirited and comes across instead as typical of an interaction between two able-bodied people, which is exactly how it should be.
The positive representation goes further, with Phillipe never shown to feel too sorry for himself or in any way bemoan his condition. He tricks the police, smokes marijuana and even has a romantic arc, making it one of the better, most rounded portrayals of a disabled character that I can remember on screen. And yet, the whole time you are waiting for something to go wrong. For his condition to worsen, for him to lose hope, for the sad ending that seems inevitable in this kind of film.
It never comes. Instead, the film indulges in some of the best feel-good moments I have seen in a long while. The paragliding sequence with Phillipe and a reluctant Driss taking to the skies, to the backing track of Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good”, is wonderful and if the ending shot doesn’t at least bring a happy tear to your eye, then I can’t help you. You’re a lost cause.
There are films for every occasion. Some are designed to make you think, others to make you feel, some fail to do either but instead allow you to switch off and escape. If you are after a film that will, if nothing else, brighten your day and make you smile, then I really can’t recommend The Intouchables enough.
George F Brown 