1. ASSIGNED READINGS1) Critical Essay on the Film The Class2) The Intouchables racist - French people don't think so and here's why - Slate3) Untouchable- How did a French comedy about disability beco

https://www .theguardian.com/film/2012/sep/06/untouchable-french-comedy-disability 1/3

U n t o u c h a b le : h o w di d a Fr e n c h c o m e d y a b o u t d is a b ilit y

b e c o m e a g lo b a l h it ?

D alya A lb erge

A fter T he A rtist com es yet another u nlikel y box :offi ce sm ash from France. T he peo ple beh ind it rev ea l

w hy they think it captu red au dien ces ' hea rts arou nd the w orld

Thu 6 Sep 2012 20.00 BST

T

h e F ren ch h ave d on e it again , striking cin em atic gold w ith an oth er u n likely fi lm . F irst it

w as T h e A rtist, a love story em braced by au d ien ces an d sh ow ered w ith O scars even

th ou gh it is silent. N ow an irreverent fi lm abou t d isability h as broken box-offi ce record s

across th e w orld .

Ju st as th e Paralym pics are ch anging pe rcept ion s abou t d isability, cin em a is pu sh ing at th e sam e

bou n d aries w ith U ntou ch able, an u plifting com ed y abou t th e frien d sh ip th at d evelops betw een a

w ealthy qu ad riplegic, Ph ilippe, an d h is carer, D riss, an ex-convict.

A u d ien ces are fl ocking to see it. It h as sold n early th ree tim es as m any tickets w orld w id e as T h e

A rtist, th ou gh it h as n ot yet open ed in several m ajor territories – in clu d ing th e U K , Japa n ,

A u stralia, Scan d in avia an d Latin A m erica. B ox-offi ce takings are a staggering $366m so far, 7/15/2019 Untouchable: how did a French comedy about disability become a global hit? | Film | The Guardian

https://www .theguardian.com/film/2012/sep/06/untouchable-french-comedy-disability 2/3

com pared w ith T h e A rtist's $134m for its entire global ru n . M ad e for ju st $10.5m , U ntou ch able is

topping n ation al ch arts, in clu d ing th ose of Sw itzerlan d , Spa in , Italy, Sou th K orea an d G erm any,

(w h ere it h as becom e th e h igh est-grossing F ren ch fi lm ) an d fi gu res exceed th ose for blockbu sters

su ch as H arry Potter in som e cou ntries.

B ased on a tru e story, th e frien d sh ip betw een th e tw o m en d evelops after th e m illion aire's

paraglid ing accid ent. T h e Sen egal-born ex-convict becom es h is carer d espi te stealing a Fabergé

egg d u ring h is job interview , an d th e pa ir are d raw n togeth er by h on esty an d h u m ou r, fear an d

frien d sh ip. H ollyw ood prod u cer H arvey W ein stein , w h o spo tted th e global po tential of T h e A rtist,

loved U ntou ch able so m u ch th at h e sn appe d u p th e rights to an E nglish -langu age rem ake, w h ich

w ill star C olin F irth , before it w as even fi n ish ed .

U ntou ch able is both h eartbreaking an d , at tim es, very fu n ny. T h e tw o m en d iscover th at th ey both

h ave d isad vantages in life – on e a physical d isability, th e oth er socioecon om ic. T h e fi lm con fronts

th e em otion al an d physical im plication s of pa ralysis, an d th e w ay th at society m akes d isabled

people invisible or "u ntou ch able".

It h as stru ck a ch ord w ith th e pu blic pe rh aps becau se w e live in a tim e of global crisis, says E ric

Toled an o, w h o w rote an d d irected U ntou ch able w ith O livier N akach e. H e says th at th e fi lm

red efi n es ou r h eroic im age, from yesterd ay's "su perh ero" to "tw o sim pl e pe opl e w h o can accept

th e fragility of th eir lives". H e add s: "W e ju st tried to m ake love w ith th is story ... th e h u m ou r

saves th ese tw o people. It's a kin d of B ritish h u m ou r. T h e B ritish can joke abou t everyth ing, even

m isery."

T h e fi lm m akers stru ggled to interest investors; th ere w as n ervou sn ess abou t d isability. O n e

fi n an cier even asked w h eth er th e ch aracter cou ld "w alk a little bit". H ow ever, th e F ren ch

com pan ies Ga u m ont, C an al+ an d T F 1 saw th e po tential.

In spiration cam e to Toled an o an d N akach e after th ey h appe n ed to w atch a d ocu m entary abou t

Ph ilippe Pozzo d i B orgo, w h o w as left a qu ad ripl egic after a pa raglid ing accid ent, an d h is A lgeria-

born carer A bd el Sellou . T h e d irectors an d actors visited D i B orgo, w h o in sisted th at th ey m ad e a

com ed y an d w ent on to act as th e fi lm 's ad viser.

Portraying a m an paralysed from th e n eck d ow n w as a pa rticu lar ch allenge, says F ran çois C lu zet,

on e of F ran ce's m ost respected actors. "I'm an actor w h o isn 't fon d of d ialogu e an d w h o loves to

act silently. T h at m ean s I u su ally n eed m y bod y to expr ess th ings … D riss becom es m y bod y in a

w ay."

Toled an o add s: "A ll th e acting is in th e eyes. It's very h ard ."

A s soon as h e read th e script, O m ar Sy, a rising F ren ch actor w h o w on a C esar for th is fi lm ,

respon d ed to it. H is ow n story is a rags-to-rich es fairytale. H e says: "I th in k it's a very h u m an

story, an d it's fu n ny an d tou ch ing … Ph ilippe ch ooses D riss as h is caretaker pa rtly becau se h e

d oesn 't see h im as d isabled or pity h im . H e ju st sees an oth er pe rson ."

Toled an o h as been overw h elm ed by reaction s from d isabled pe opl e, in clu d ing th ose associated

w ith T h e C h ristoph er & D an a R eeve Fou n d ation , d ed icated to cu ring spi n al-cord in ju ry an d set u p

in m em ory of H ollyw ood actor C h ristoph er R eeve w h o w as left a qu ad ripl egic after a h orse-rid ing

accid ent. 7/15/2019 Untouchable: how did a French comedy about disability become a global hit? | Film | The Guardian

https://www .theguardian.com/film/2012/sep/06/untouchable-french-comedy-disability 3/3

Peter T W ild erotter, its presid ent, says of U ntou ch able: "M ost tim es m ovies on ly d ispl ay th e

d espair of d isability an d d o so in a w ay th at d oesn 't po rtray th e d ay-to-d ay ch allenges. T h is m ovie

tells th e story w ith tru th an d integrity an d h u m ou r tow ard s th e ign oran ce th at th ose w h o live

w ith paralysis face each an d every d ay. It is a tru e gift. It's as if C h ris an d D an a collaborated on th e

fi lm ."

Toled an o h as received m ore th an 3,0 0 0 th an k-you m essages from w h eelch air u sers all over th e

w orld . "You w ill cry if I sh ow you all th e m essages I've received ," h e says. "I am so pr ou d ."

• U ntou ch able is released on 21 Septem ber.

S in c e y o u ’r e h e r e …

… w e h ave a sm all favou r to ask. M ore pe opl e are read ing an d su ppo rting T h e G u ard ian’s

in d epen d ent, investigative jou rn alism th an ever before. A n d u n like m any n ew s organ isation s, w e

h ave ch osen an approach th at allow s u s to keep ou r jou rn alism accessible to all, regard less of

w h ere th ey live or w h at th ey can aff ord . B u t w e n eed you r ongoing su ppo rt to keep w orking as w e

d o.

T h e Gu ard ian w ill engage w ith th e m ost critical issu es of ou r tim e – from th e escalating clim ate

catastroph e to w id espread in equ ality to th e in fl u en ce of big tech on ou r lives. A t a tim e w h en

factu al in form ation is a n ecessity, w e believe th at each of u s, arou n d th e w orld , d eserves access to

accu rate reporting w ith integrity at its h eart.

O u r ed itorial in d epen d en ce m ean s w e set ou r ow n agen d a an d voice ou r ow n opi n ion s. G u ard ian

jou rn alism is free from com m ercial an d po litical bias an d n ot in fl u en ced by billion aire ow n ers or

sh areh old ers. T h is m ean s w e can give a voice to th ose less h eard , expl ore w h ere oth ers tu rn aw ay,

an d rigorou sly ch allenge th ose in po w er.

W e n eed you r su pport to keep d elivering qu ality jou rn alism , to m aintain ou r ope n n ess an d to

protect ou r preciou s in d epen d en ce. E very read er contribu tion , big or sm all, is so valu able.

Su p p ort T h e G u ard ian from as little as $1 – an d it on ly takes a m in u te. T h an k you .

Su pport T h e Gu ard ian

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