La soupe aux choux
Tags: atmospheric

Plot synopsis:
Claude Ratinier (Louis de Funès), known as Le Glaude, is an old man who lives on a small farm across the road from his long-time friend Francis Chérasse (Jean Carmet), known as Le Bombé. The two are described as the last surviving members of their breed, still living in a rural fashion while the rest of the world has modernized. They spend their days getting drunk and eating cabbage soup, while they spend their nights getting drunk and farting.
One night, their farting summons an alien (Jacques Villeret) from the planet Oxo while Le Bombé is asleep. Glaude is awake to welcome the alien (who can only communicate in a squealing-siren sound at first). Surprised Glaude communicates with him through rough sign language. Glaude then sends the alien off with a canister full of cabbage soup. The next day, we find out that Bombé had seen the flying saucer and Glaude tells him that there was no such thing. He goes to the police but he is dismissed by them as a loony. When he realizes that no one believes him he becomes very sad and Glaude is worried about him. Glaude then tricks him into hanging himself while he secretly cuts the rope so that he falls when he puts his weight on it. It's to show him that he doesn't want to die.
The alien returns several times because of the cabbage soup that he was given. On his planet they eat minerals and to them cabbage soup is the most amazing thing ever. On the second meeting the alien has learned French and we are told that on his planet they live to 200, no more, no less. But trouble brews when the alien arranges to have Glaude's late wife resurrected at the age of 20. She runs away to Paris with a young man within a day of her resurrection. He also duplicates the Glaude's gold coin hundreds of times, making Glaude rich. Finally (because of the effect of the delicious cabbage soup on Oxo), the alien offers Glaude, Bombé, and their cat residence on Oxo so that they could grow their cabbage and make cabbage soup. This would allow them all to live to the age of 200. Glaude initially rejects the proposition outright.
Meanwhile, the mayor of the rural town decides to modernize. He plans a new housing project directly on the old men's land. Although he threatens to put them in a cage like monkeys, he cannot convince them to give up their land. He decides to simply build around their houses and fence them off from the rest of the neighborhood. They become a thing of curiosity, with people jeering at them and throwing popcorn at them whenever they step outside of their doors. This sad destruction of their peaceful home convinces Glaude to accept the alien's offer.
He tells Bombé about their option, who is utterly unconvinced, but opens up to the idea when he sees the communicator left by the alien. Before leaving, Glaude makes a last stop at the post office to send his wife a package containing the gold they were given by the alien. The film ends with Glaude, Bombé, their cat and the alien flying off into space inside the flying saucer, joyous and drinking.

Review: Non french people may feel very disoriented by this movie...
Its dialogs and background refer to a scaring rural France which disappeared a long time ago.
So, what makes this movie so interesting and well known in french cinema history ?
The movie was released as a stupid comedy (it has this reputation anyway).
But it is a very sad movie and i often saw people crying during the film..
Unfortunately de Funes died do early to had the chance to see his movies in the cinemas (I was to young).
Thank you for a lot of great movies!.
"La soupe aux choux" is more than all things, the story of the sincere friendship between two old men.
It's necessary to precise that these old men are not farmers, but peasants, one was a well-sinker, the other a maker of sabots.
It's also a mistake to believe that peasants are some resistant to change; this kind of mentality comes from old age, and it's true for everybody.The beauty of that film comes before all from the greay quality of the actors and of their interpretation.
And it's true not only for Louis de Funès, but also for Jean Carmet and Jacques Villeret.
It's surely because of the quality of the direction of Jean Girauld, on the one hand and the dragging of the quality of play of that tremendous actor who was Louis de Funès on the other hand.I have seen that film about fifty times at least, and I feel the need to see it again about three to four times a year.
Each time I like it and never find it vulgar, because it's necessary to be highter than the apparent vulgarity of certain scenes.
Never forget that everyone can, at a time in his life do some scenes like these, and we should not feel ashamed to do that, it's all and completely human.
Even if the film is a little budget one, it's one of the best of that great actor who was Louis de Funès..
I've read some of the comments before and it surprises me that people really try comparing this movie to others and expecting from it a classic approach to comedy or sci-fi or even drama.
I have the feeling that you cannot judge this movie using the same common patterns because it simply is different.
I don't think that producers really wanted this movie to be rushed to cinema or trying to manage making it within a tight budget.
Grows on You. I remember being in France in 1981 and being taken to see this film which I found totally stupid as concerns the script.
The film has acquired a sort of value with its ageing which was not apparent at the time it came out.
The local inhabitants are portrayed as " country bumpkins " eating cabbage soup and farting all the time.
The arrival of an alien ( Jacques Villeret - quite a famous actor in France today ) from the planet of Oxo ( is it a play on words with the English beef-stock product ?
)who takes a liking to cabbage soup will change the lives of these two " gentlemen ".
Great drama acting by de Funes.
I saw it and can say that this is very good old-fashioned comedy.
Maybe the choice of Funes' wife is not good- I don't like her acting.
SO, we have a very funny and sometimes sad movie with great language jokes and with couple of "words of wisdom":).
See it if you like classic comedies, Louis, or just want not a stupid comedy for an evening at home.
And of course this is much better than last de Funes movie - Gendarme and Gendarmettes - it's not show the level of de Funes talent and contains some really stupid jokes.
So, if you want to watch some of the late Funes films see this one or The Miser (1979) which is so great!!!.
One of De Funes last films is also one of his best and most touching.
There's a little magic in this film I'll have to add a little sentimental note here: This movie reminds me of good and bad childhood memories.
The good being, that (like many Germans of my generation), I grew up with the Louis de Funes comedies so, yes, I was laughing very hard when I saw this film for the first time.
The bad memories: a few days after having seen it first, I heard the de Funes had passed away and this may have been the only time in my life when I had tears rolling down my cheeks after hearing about the passing of an actor (this was before the time when everybody was racing to put a random, make-myself-feel-better "RIP" on Facebook, whenever a celebrity kicks the bucket).In many ways, his second-to-last film was one of the most unusual de-Funes-Films.
Despite this being a "typical" de-Funes-Film, there are very strong, melancholic moments (especially those involving farmer Claude and his resurrected wife Franchine or the when Claude is reminiscing about past days), which was very rare for the typical de-Funes-film.
Matter of personal taste really, but I dare you to look up the title-song on YouTube and not have the tune, be it the original or one of the many covers, stuck in the back of your head for a long time to come.In essence, all slapstick and de Funes hyper-conundrum aside, it is a movie about people longing for simpler, "down to earth" (paradoxically) times, when you could still enjoy the starlit, countryside-sky with a friend, getting drunk on wine and Pastis (and, yes, not to mention the fart-tournaments between de Funes and Carmet, which goes beyond the contemporary "laugh because somebody farted"-joke).
One of the films highlights is the scene where de Funes introduces his alien friend into the "art" of eating his homemade cabbage soup – watch it and tell me honestly to the face that it doesn't make you long for a bowl and a piece of bread, whether you like cabbage or not.
Sure, those times aren't coming back, but that's what movies are for, no?
One can honestly say: they don't make films like this anymore.
I tend to ignore the last De-Funes-film ("Le gendarme et les gendarmettes"), thinking of "La Soup aux choux" as the final farewell from this master-comedian, as if to say: hey, no matter how tough things get, face them with a mischievous grin; what comes will come, but it will come more smoothly with a glass of Pastis and a bowl of home-made cabbage soup.Mind you: this is by no means an objective review but I personally give it 9 out of 10..
When I first saw it a few years ago, I have been deeply moved by this movie.
The two old friends are in fact so kind at heart, striving to remain merry and hopeful, though are gradually deprived of every gift of life (youth, wife, wealth, other friends etc)!
The merit of this movie is to speak in a simple way about big, sad issues.
On the plus side, one should add the great performance of the two leading actors, the jolly "accent du Midi", a too short cameo by Claude Gensac, and first of all the bitter-sweet, child-like and almost unreal solution to the loneliness of the two old men.
On the minus side, a bit of a hurry sometimes, and especially the total lack of skill and motivation from the actress playing Claude's wife, ruining an important and rather unbelievable character.The best De Funes film, quite different from the usual bulk..
It seems to be a bit foolish first, two old men farting all the time and an alien allured by that sound.
The German title of that movie is "Louis und seine ausserirdischen Kohlköpfe" meaning "Louis and his extraterrestrial heads of cabbage".
Unfortunately I'm lacking of speaking French, so I can't assess the original version.It is my favourite movie with Louis de Funès next to "L'Aile ou la cuisse".
Louis de Funès at his best considering his health.
This was Mr de Funès on one of his last movies.
Even though this movie shows itself as a lightweight comedy with a bit of sci fi, this movie's idea is way much deeper.
"La soupe aux choux" is more than all things, the story of the sincere friendship between two old men through the ages.
Louis de Funes acts very nice in this movie.
Movie's cinematography is done nice with minimal light, which probably shows main characters' distance from the rest of the world.
Another nice thing is movie's catchy score.
About the acting of other actor's besides Funes' , it is maybe a little bit done in expressionistic style.
It's got a little bit bad effects(which is not so terrible, after all this is a 1981 movie) and somehow weird style of humor(jokes about farting) but after all, it has a happy end..
A different, but adorable de Funès comedy!.
Instead, at the heart of this film, there are two dotards leading their simple day-to-day lives and eating cabbage soup while waiting for their demise.
Their quiet life is only endangered by the expanding city in the background.When they unintentionally catch the attention of a cabbage-hungry alien, excitement ensues, friendships get adjusted, and of course there's a happy "ending".
What makes this very simple story so fun to watch are the three main actors, they're so adorable you could watch them an hour longer without ever getting bored I think..
This film, based on René Fallet's book, is a must see in French comedy.
For a start it features Louis de Funès in one of his best roles (I'm not a fan of de Funès, I find him too vigorous and slapstick) as well as Jean Carmet and of course the extremely young Jacques Villeret.
Jacques Villeret plays the funniest alien (ALF excepted), attracted to a small French farm where two old winos drink and eat cabbage soup before farting under the stars.
Jacques Villeret, in what is probably a revelation of his talent to come in Malabar Princess and Diner de Cons is the laughing stock of the film, nicely enhanced by a countryside music (a favourite ring tone today in France...
believe it or not).The most important aspect of this film though is the script by René Fallet.
Old people farting under the moon?
René Fallet asks two important questions through this book / film.
What happens when old people suffer of loneliness?
a great movie.
about old age, about the fall of a world, about friendship, about importance of fairy tales who gives sense to life.
so, The Cabbage Soup is a sort of legacy of a great actor.
sad, almost cruel, using humor to describe the roots of contemporary France, it is a great film.
Red wine, cabbage soup and La Denrée!.
When I first saw this movie, about 10 years ago, I really liked it.
I remember making cabbage soup and drinking an entire bottle of wine the same night!
Great actors (De Funès, Carmet and Villeret), but not used to their full potential.
And some scenes are just plain stupid, like the farting contest.
It could have been the Best French Movie of the Century.
Everything has been gathered in order to produce The French Movie of the Century : the best actors around (some of them even famous outside France), a great scenario written by a team of highly-skilled professionals (one of them, Jean de la Bine-Boilue, died last year and we will always keep high the flame of his memory), more than one hundred technicians, among the best ones available at that time, two SFX studios used for the UFO scene ...
But, maybe due to a lack of will, the project finally ended into a kind of common movie, airlines-designed film.
We all know that this movie had a critical influence on famous directors like Roland Emmerich, the same way "The seven Samurai" influenced G.
Lucas, but, with a kind of regret in mind, we have to think what a wonderful movie it would have been if all the people involved in the project would have done their best..
This film is an adaptation from René Fallet's novel: "la soupe aux choux" that is a good novel.
In exchange of soup, he comes back to life one of the farmers's wife who will quickly leave her elderly husband due to his age.
Because they are aware that modern world doesn't fit them, the two farmers are leaving on another planet with their houses and their soup.
When you watch this film, there is one thing that is very obvious: it was especially made for Louis De Funès (besides, he wrote the screenplay of the film with the director Jean Girault) and consequently the other actors have got only a decorative role; if you compare Jean Carmet and Jacques Villeret to De Funès, the two actors are very pale.
Moreover, this film is often vulgar (De Funès and Carmet who make a stupid competition of farts after drinking a lot), and dumb too; the music that is made of synthesizers is completely incompatible with the story and sounds like Abba music.
Don't try, there's only one, a little French treat titled: "The Cabbage Soup", the penultimate movie of old-time partners Jean Girault and Louis de Funès and certainly their ultimate classic if we forgive the final "Gendarmes" movie in 1982.
Critics literally spat on this soup, but it aged like a good wine or did people learn to relate to the two grumpy old men, now that they grew more wisdom and less hair?
Because "The Cabbage Soup", albeit a sci-fi movie, is less about aliens than it is about soups.
The film is set in a rural village that looks like a ghost town, victim of urban expansion, so blatant the mayor would trade its remain dignity for a touristic park to keep it alive.
There's no park yet and in one of the last occupied spots two farmers still live: a well digger named Le Bombé (Jean Carmet) and a clog maker named Le Glaude, played by Louis de Funès.
Yes, you'll hear a lot of farting in this film.I guess this isn't the film's finest moment, not it is the one we'd love to remember from actors De Funes and Carmet, but why should we deem it as 'genius' when Mel Brooks employ it?
I won't try to over-analyze this moment, I don't enjoy it either but to the film's defense, it's not used gratuitously, it's the fart that literally "calls" the alien (what difference would have it makes if it were belches?), and in a way it established the farmers' regression to ennui-driven childishness.
And how refreshing that for once that an Alien comes to Earth, he doesn't visit the White House (or the Elysium Palace), that's what a good French sci-fi film should have, not the 1979 wannabe American ersatz with the Gendarmes.Yes, forget about these invasion tiresome plots, and imagine "Close Encounter with the Third Kinds" as guests for a Thanksgiving dinner and you'll have a clue about how heart-warming the film is.
"The Cabbage Soup" deals with the relationship between friends, between a man and his memories, not to mention, his future.
The catalysis to all these events will be a friendly alien played by the lovable rotund comical actor in his memorable debut: Jacques Villeret, the unforgettable François Pignon from "Dinner for Schmucks".
It is only fitting that he could play with the then greatest comical actor.And De Funès was already weakened by his heart condition and after "The Miser", his other co-adaptation with Jean Girault, his need to restrict his roles had uncontrollably brought more sadness and poignancy to his acting.
I deplored his work didn't have taken that path earlier, there's something in Funes' contemplation of loneliness aging and declining health that echoes the tragedy of French farmers.
If the promises of suicide made by Le Bombé play like a running gag, keep in mind farmers is the profession with the highest-rate of suicides in French, with cops, which De Funès also played ironically.
De Funès never hid his admiration for his idol Chaplin, and while he never achieved the dream to make a silent masterpiece, this film is the closest to Chaplin's "Limelight".It's De Funes "Limelight" as well as his twilight and one of a certain vision of France.
There's a statement made in this film, about French roots and origins, symbolized by something as simple and heartfelt as a cabbage soup.
Many moments can strike as outdated, childish or not too funny, but it's on the highest spots that this film hits a sensitive chord, one involving the resurrection of Glaude's deceased wife coming back at twenty and unable to resists to the call of the city.
The attractively decadent town planning is even more powerfully rendered in a scene where the two farmers are like monkeys in cages visited by tourists who throw peanuts at them, a dying breed indeed.One could ever draw a sad parallel with the evolution of French cinema.
De Funès' time was over, but it needed a final hurrah.
I would love to imagine there's such a place where Funes, Carmet and Villeret (and Girault) are sharing a few jokes and enjoying themselves just no farts!"The Cabbage Soup" is really one of a kind, but it does treat its material rather seriously, the composer himself, veteran Raymond Lefebvre wanted to make a music in the wave of electronic music and mix with a popular folk song, needless to say that the theme is one of the most popular of French cinema, a regular ringtone and one of the film's elements of endearing success.There's a cheerfulness, a gentleness and a tender poignancy in "The Cabbage Soup" but ultimately you'll savor the film like the best meal with your friend, and a last supper with comical legend Louis de Funès.