Les Visiteurs (Subtitled) (DVD)

...easy to follow comedy called Les Visiteurs. I am now so pleased that they chose this film because I have since bought it on DVD and watched it again, having enjoyed it so much.

The film as I have already mentioned has French audio but the English subtitles on my DVD version are fixed and according to my host family are very accurate although some of the humour is lost in translation a little bit.

== THE PLOT ==
...
...and is to be rewarded with his beloved Fenegronde's hand in marriage. On the way to claim his love however a witch's hex leaves the Knight in a hallucinogenic state and he accidentally kills Fenegronde's father. She is obviously therefore not going to marry him and so Godefroy, with the somewhat smelly and grossly uncouth vassal Jacquoville in tow, turns to a wizard who he hopes can send them back in time so he can avert the event. The wizard however ... more

Whilst on an International Air Cadet Exchange to Belgium last July one of my host families decided to show me a classic French film. Now I speak a little French but not enough to watch an entire film and so was a little concerned. That was however until they explained that it had English subtitles and was an easy to follow comedy called Les Visiteurs. I am now so pleased that they chose this film because I have since bought it on DVD and watched it again, having enjoyed it so much.

The film as I have already mentioned has French audio but the English subtitles on my DVD version are fixed and according to my host family are very accurate although some of the humour is lost in translation a little bit.

THE PLOT

Count Godefroy de Montmirail has just saved the King's life and is to be rewarded with his beloved Fenegronde's hand in marriage. On the way to claim his love however a witch's hex leaves the Knight in a hallucinogenic state and he accidentally kills Fenegronde's father. She is obviously therefore not going to marry him and so Godefroy, with the somewhat smelly and grossly uncouth vassal Jacquoville in tow, turns to a wizard who he hopes can send them back in time so he can avert the event. The wizard however is to say the least senile and only remembers an important ingredient after both Godefroy and Jacquoville have drank the potion.

Finding themselves in a forest that does not resemble the one they wished to be transported back to the pair are slightly vexed and coming across a road and a metal devil's chariot, a car, they become even more confused. In a time completely not their own they must deal with a whole matter of weird and wonderful inventions, to them anyway, and somehow find a way to restore things as they should be.

THE CAST

Now I'm not a French film expert by any matter of speaking and so I can only take the actors and actresses for the performances they gave in this film alone. The performances of Godefroy de Montmirail and Jacquoville are perfectly filled in my opinion by Jean Reno and Christian Clavier and I personally really enjoyed watching the pair of them. Valerie Le Mercier, as Godefroy's great, great, great granddaughter also puts in a brilliant performance.

It is clear from the start that none of the actors and actresses involved in this film took the whole pretence too seriously and this is what makes them all so great to watch. There is no over-characterisation of roles, no attempts to put in heart-felt emotion and no attempts to make the script funnier with stupid voices or facial expressions. This for me is a big thing as quite often films are ruined by the performers trying to make more out of it than is possible.

MY OPINION

Overall this film is a real pleasure to watch and the fact that the audio is all in French doesn't matter one little bit. The humour in the film on the most part crosses the language barrier and the on-screen action is what generates a great deal of the humour anyway. Furthermore the spoken word seemed to rise and fall at just the right moments so as it was possible for me to pick out emotions by listening as well as reading and watching.

I personally would highly recommend this film to anyone that doesn't mind watching a film with subtitles on, as it truly is a great piece of entertainment. I personally found that after a while I didn't really notice that the voices were French, as the on-screen action was what was drawing my attention. I think that this is something that all involved can be proud of.

FACTS

Running Time: 105 minutes
Price: around the £4 - £6 mark if bought online
Certificate: 15

FINAL COMMENT

This film is certainly one to see if you enjoy a good laugh and don't mind a foreign audio. 

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