Review 124
Carambolages (1963)
Welcome to 2016, guys! Nothing has changed, but I thought I'd start the film off with a- actually, let's not spoil the surprise. This one is a French film from 1963 starring comedy man Louis de Funès called Carambolages, or Carom Shots (a reference to pool balls) in English, directed by Marcel Bluwal. It also stars Jean-Claude Brialy (who apparently starred in a Luis Buñuel film - cool!), Sophie Daumier, and Michel Serrault (La cage aux folles! Aww yeah!). This actually starred some pretty notable people now that I looked into it... Nice!
Paul Martin (Jean-Claude Brialy) is looking to improve his title and get rid of his debt. He works at an advertising company under director general Norbert Charolais, a tyrant and crazy man, is engaged to the daughter of a superior, but is secretly sleeping with his secretary. His dream is to become director general of the company, and with the help of his brilliant schemes, he may just reach the title he's always wanted.
Carambolages is cute. It starts off with a message warning against those who oppose the following film will be impitoyablement destroyed. Of course it's just the announcement for the advertising company, but I was like, "What?" right off the bat. And the moment the video finishes, you can a clear shot of Louis de Funès and his discontentment. Hilarity follows, but in a slightly disorganised manner. We quickly find out about Paul Martin's woes to try and pay off his rising credit. But unlike a normal man, after he finds out that marrying a superior's daughter for money won't work, he decides to try and kill off the head boss. And the boss, in the meantime, is trying to kill off the man who he believes is sleeping with his wife. The film is a whole run around where you're waiting to see who will die, who will live. Probably my favourite part was the woman with the man's voice. I don't really understand what the heck it was about, but it gave me a good laugh.
I actually don't have much to say about this one. I mean, it was goofy, but I missed out on some dialogue given the super fast talking at times. Next time I watch it, I'll check it out with subtitles (and I recommend you do as well!). I feel like there were subtle jokes that I completely missed out at times unfortunately. While Carambolages was not a big favourite of mine, I thought it was a nice change from comedies of a more recent era. This one was dark, but not too dark, and while it had some political messages behind it, it wasn't aiming to shove all sorts of different messages down my throat (or, at least, given that I missed out on some dialogue, I might have missed it). The comedy was genuine and had some nice, cinematic twists at times.
Now I'm sure you're asking why I would even bother to bring this one up since I'm struggling to find something to say. Well, because there is an appearance from someone special right at the very end of the film. That's right - it's Alain Delon! He is never credited, but it was a great appearance nonetheless - one not necessarily expected if you didn't know!
Bottom line, Carambolages is a cute, dark comedy about work culture and trying to get higher in a pyramid. Maybe you get to the top, but remember, there's always someone at the bottom who might be ready to topple you down...
Sorry, only got it in French!
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