"Untouchable" (Fr: "Intouchables"), BBC Four, Sunday 15 March 10pm

[Nick Armstrong]

May I draw Forumites' attention to the broadcast tomorrow of this moooooovie, which (transcending a number of narrative and cinematic clichés) I think is very funny, touching, humane, even dare I say uplifting.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01pm7y6

I was going to post a trailer but I won't - don't want to spoil some of the narrative highlights.

But as an incentive to some - those missing Audrey Fleurot ("Joséphine Karlsson") from Spiral will have a chance to renew an old friendship.

Give it a watch. I think it's a winner.

[teamsaint]

he's right, you know.
a fine film indeed, and all the things Cals says.

deffo one to catch, and based on real life events.

[Alain Maréchal]

Yes, it is the things Caliban says, but its also full of cliches , fairly predictable, and just about every surprise is flagged up in advance - either that, or I have watched too many of the genre. Its still worth watching. Unfortunately the critics' category of "uplifting" usually makes me reach for my revolver.

[Nick Armstrong]

Yes, it is the things Caliban says, but its also full of cliches , fairly predictable, and just about every surprise is flagged up in advance - either that, or I have watched too many of the genre. Its still worth watching. Unfortunately the critics' category of "uplifting" usually makes me reach for my revolver.

I agree, hence my tentative use of the word!!

[Alain Maréchal]

It may play differently to a UK audience, but as far as I can ascertain from conversations, the reason it has been so successful here is that it confirms the audiences opinion of itself; it shows the interaction between two sections of French society behaving in the way they would expect. I doubt if either of those two particular sections go to the cinema to see films like this. I'm glad it is getting UK showing, nevertheless.

[Anna]

I hadn't noticed it in the schedules, but I've read the reviews such as "broad, accessible and as unsubtle as a subtitled Driving Miss Daisy"
I might have a look as teamsaint also recommends and it's supposed to be funny.

[teamsaint]

I hadn't noticed it in the schedules, but I've read the reviews such as "broad, accessible and as unsubtle as a subtitled Driving Miss Daisy"
I might have a look as teamsaint also recommends and it's supposed to be funny.

Sure you'll enjoy it Anna. It isn't perfect, but lots to enjoy, IMO.

[Pianorak]

Any idea how likely it is to be available on iPlayer?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Any idea how likely it is to be available on iPlayer?

Hmmm ... it's a film, and they're not generally available on the i-Player (last night's late films Enigma and Puppet on a Chain had to be watched as they were broadcast). But I remember watching The Lives of Others on the i-Player before Christmas, so perhaps ...

[eighthobstruction]

....i enjoy an unlift....nothing better.... < struts like Robert Duvall in Apoc' Now breathing uplift>

....probably will be on iplayer....

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

where do i sign?

[Nick Armstrong]

I hadn't noticed it in the schedules, but I've read the reviews such as "broad, accessible and as unsubtle as a subtitled Driving Miss Daisy"
I might have a look as teamsaint also recommends and it's supposed to be funny.

I love how you place implicit trust in my critical faculties Anna!!



Always good to get a second opinion!

[Nick Armstrong]

....i enjoy an unlift.....

Well I sure hope it won't unlift you, 8tho!

Not so sure about the iPlayer option, I always assume (clearly wrongly in some cases), that films won't be...

Go on - make an extra-big bowl of cocoa and watch it 'live' if you can't record it..

[Alain Maréchal]

Mme.Marechal, always knowledgeable (and condescending) about public taste, has just informed me that it was as big a hit as "Bienvenue chez les Ch'Tis", which probably explains why I was underwhelmed. For some reason "clash of culture" always seem to have "...with hilarious consequences" tagged on, and I am resistant to prescribed hilarity.
Don't be put off though, "Intouchables" (note the plural, a nuance lost in the English version of the title) is an enjoyable film. It could have been so much better.

[Nick Armstrong]

Mme.Marechal, always knowledgeable (and condescending) about public taste, has just informed me that it was as big a hit as "Bienvenue chez les Ch'Tis", which probably explains why I was underwhelmed. For some reason "clash of culture" always seem to have "...with hilarious consequences" tagged on, and I am resistant to prescribed hilarity.
Don't be put off though, "Intouchables" (note the plural, a nuance lost in the English version of the title) is an enjoyable film. It could have been so much better.

I think it is possible to be over-fastidious about something that has broad popular appeal - it doesn't always mean the quality is any the less, or that the film could have been better in ways that would have appealed to fewer people, although of course that is often the case, I accept.

(I would cite the Jack Nicholson film "As Good as It Gets" as being another example of a film which fits into a broadly popular - nay, rom-com - template but which is just superbly written and performed and As Funny As It Gets).