Les tontons flingueurs
Tags: cult

Plot synopsis:
A Public Works Plant in Montauban, in the South-East of France. Late in the evening, the boss, Fernand Naudin (Lino Ventura), takes his car to go to Paris on some urgent matter. Which bothers his assistant because of the annual Fair on the next week-end.Early in the morning, Fernand arrives in Paris on the Champs-Elysées, to meet his old friend, Louis (Jacques Dumesnil), who just came back from Mexico, where he had gone fifteen years before, to get away from French justice. They remained very close friends, even after Fernand change to legal business. The meeting place is a bowling alley, where Fernand is met by another friend of Louis, Henri (Paul Mercey), the manager of the place.In an apartment above the bowling alley, Louis is lying in bed, where a doctor is giving him a shot. After the doctor is gone, Louis explains Fernand that he is very ill, and that he came back to France do die and be buried next to his parents. He also tells Fernand about his 18-year old daughter, Patricia, whose mother was a hooker friend of him, and whom he would like Fernand to take care of after his death. Money is no problem, since Louis has several not quite legal business, but which work very smoothly, and which get enough money for Patricia's needs. Nevertheless Fernand is not very happy about the idea.Their heated conversation is stopped by the arrival of Louis' assistants, Raoul (Bertrand Blier) and Paul (Jean Lefebvre) Volfoni, who run a clandestine and illegal roulette on a barge, and Théo (Horst Frank), who runs an illegal distillery. Théo, who is homosexual, has come with his boyfriend, Vincent (Georges Nojaroff), whom Louis doesn't want to be present. Louis tells the three remaining men that Fernand is now in charge of his business, which doesn't seem to please Raoul Volfoni. But Pascal (Valentino Venantini), Louis' gunman, being around, neither the Volfoni brothers nor Théo don't say much about it.After they're gone, Fernand remains alone with Louis. When Louis has an attack, Fernand calls Pascal to help him and Louis dies in both men's arms.After Louis' death, Fernand goes back in the bowling alley, where Henri gets him something to eat. The Volfoni brothers try to talk Fernand out of taking over Louis' business, but Fernand refuses not to keep a promise made to a dying friend. Their conversation is interrupted by a phone call from Tomate, who runs a illegal roulette in a farm. Tomate seems to have some problem with nervous patrons. Pascal wants to have a look and Fernand asks him to go with him. After their departure, Théo, who, unlike the Volfoni, didn't say a word to Fernand, tells Vincent, his boyfriend, that he has just taken care of Fernand as a problem.Pascal and Fernand reach the farm, but they've just left their car when they get machine-gunned from a gunman in a big American car. Pascal kills both the gunman and the driver, and then goes inside the farm, followed by a slightly disturbed Fernand, who wonders if the Volfoni are not the sponsors of the dead gunman. Pascal agrees with him.Tomate (Charles Régnier), alone in the roulette room, seems very surprised by what Pascal and Fernand tell him. He sends his henchman, Freddy (Henri Cogan), to clean the mess made by the gun fight, and then he explains to Fernand that he had no problem that evening in the roulette room, and consequently that he never phoned the bowling alley. But when Fernand phones the bowling alley, he learns that Henri has been shot and killed, and that the police is already there.Pascal drives Fernand to the 18th century manor that Louis had bought for his daughter, who lives there with her two «uncles», Folace (Francis Blanche), who is a shady attorney in charge of Louis' business, and Jean (Robert Dalban), who is a former burglar, adopted by Louis, and converted into a butler. Pascal goes back home and Folace explains to Fernand that Patricia is a bit of a problem, because she consistently gets kicked out of every private school she goes to. Fernand, who wants to get back to Montauban as soon as possible, tells Folace that he is going to make Patricia understand how she must behave. Folace also tells Jean and Fernand that Patricia must never know that her father, whom she knows only through his letters, is dead.Next morning, Fernand is shaving when Patricia (Sabine Sinjen) enters the bathroom. She teases Fernand, whom her father, in his letters, describes as some sort of modern knight. When Fernand tells her they must have a serious conversation, she gets away.A bit later, Folace tells Fernand that Louis' business is not running as smoothly as he thought, and even less since Louis' «assistants» learned about his death.Fernand then meets Patricia's fiancé, Antoine Delafoy (Claude Rich), a musical genius or so he pretends himself to be ! Actually he is a very smart young man, a bit eccentric, and who keeps on talking all the time, to Fernand's obvious annoyance.Pascal discreetly interrupts Fernand's conversation with Antoine, to tell him that Louis' «assistants» are holding a secret meeting on the Volfoni's barge. Fernand feels like going to see what it's all about, along with the very efficient Pascal. Antoine doesn't believe in Fernand's unexpected board meeting, and thinks Fernand is going to meet some girl !Around the roulette table inside the barge, are gathered the Volfoni brothers, Théo, Vincent, Tomate, Freddy, and Madame Mado (Dominique Davray) who runs an illegal brothel. Raoul is trying to get them to do something about the situation, but Théo objects that, since Louis' death, there have been too many murders around.On the barge deck, Fernand, Pascal and Folace are met by Léo, who is the barge «official» skipper. When Léo says he wants to ask the Volfoni before letting his visitors inside the barge, Fernand punches him and sends him into the river.In the roulette room, the meeting is very heated, when someone knocks at the door. Freddy opens the door and gets Fernand's fist in his face. Pascal walks in behind Fernand with a gun in each hand. Bastien (Marc Ronay), Volfoni's gunman, wants to react, but Raoul stops him.Fernand sits down, and, with the help of Folace, goes on with important matters. He asks Mado about the irregular management of her brothel. She defends her business with quite a sense of humor. Fernand turns to Théo, who talks about his problems with illegal alcohol.Meanwhile, in a small room near the entrance of the roulette room, the two gunmen, Pascal and Bastien, are talking shop and showing each other's guns.After Théo's, Fernand opens the Volfoni's file. He explains he has decided to make their bookkeeping much easier : he will just ask them to pay this year what they paid the year before. He then asks Pascal to come and get their money during the coming week.Fernand and friends leave the room with Bastien. After they've gone, Mado makes fun of Raoul, whom she finds a bit of a coward. Raoul gets very angry when she says that. Then someone knocks at the door and he crosses the room to open it. He gets Fernand's fist in his face. Fernand tells him that he gives him an extra ten percent on his debt because of the delay.Back to the manor, Fernand finds Patricia and Antoine seated close to each other on a sofa, listening to Corelli in the dark. He sends Patricia to her room and Antoine out of the house.Later in the evening, Fernand is listening to the Corelli record while eating some chicken, when Pascal and Bastien enter discreetly through a French window. The two gunmen explain to Fernand that they've found they are related, and the dispute between Fernand and the Volfoni is giving them a moral dilemma. They are afraid that, one day, they will have to face each other, guns in hand. So Bastien has just resigned his job with the Volfoni and Pascal is doing the same with Fernand.A few days later, Fernand is reading a dissertation Patricia wrote about Corneille, Racine, Bossuet and Pascal. He finds it so good that he thinks that the teacher could have given her a higher grade. He is interrupted by a call from one of his assistants in Montauban.A few moments later, Folace explains to Fernand that the expected money didn't come in when he gets interrupted by a call from Raoul, who tells him there are some problem at the distillery.At the distillery, Tomate asks Théo if he thinks Fernand believed what they suggested the too naïve Raoul to tell him. The answer is the noise made by Fernand's car arriving at the distillery. Théo explains to Tomate and Freddy that, after they get rid of Fernand, they will just have to get also rid of the Volfoni brothers, and then they will be the only bosses of the late Louis' business.After he has sent his assistants on their duties, Théo greets Fernand with a feigned surprise. He explains to Fernand that his problem is that he just lost the driver who was supposed to drive a truck full of moonshine (illegal alcohol), and because he, Théo, doesn't have a driver's license anymore, he asked Raoul to get him a new driver. Fernand tells him he is going to drive the truck himself.To reach the «meeting place», Fernand has to cross the Fontainebleau forest. This is where Théo and Tomate are waiting for him with a machine-gun. They shoot the truck, which gets off the road, and then starts burning. Fernand succeeds in leaving the truck, and with a burned and torn suit, he reaches the Volfoni barge.There, he knocks Raoul out, and then empty the open safe. Paul Volfoni, who does not understand a word of what Fernand tells him about trucks and moonshine, nevertheless lets the very angry Fernand takes the money out of the safe.When Fernand gets back at the manor with his bag full of money, it is to find that his «niece» Patricia is having a party where she invited a lot of young idle «bourgeois». Many sport cars are parked in front of the manor. When one of the owners of one of these sport cars says something quite inappropriate about the relationship between Patricia and Antoine, Fernand feels he has to give the young guy a good thrashing.He then enters the manor, where all the young guests are dancing while Jean is moving around them with a tray full of drinks. Fernand has a little chat with Patricia, and then goes to the kitchen.In the kitchen, Folace is buttering toasts for the guests. Fernand shows him the money inside the bag. When Jean sees Fernand torn suit, and when Fernand tells him it is the work of the Volfoni, Jean puts a gun in his pocket.A quite useful decision when, a few minutes later, the Volfoni brothers enter the manor. Jean guide them to the kitchen, where they get in, gun in hand. Jean comes in behind them, pointing his own gun in their backs, and he asks them to give him their guns. Paul, to calm the situation down, start buttering the toasts. A very drunk girl enters the kitchen, because she is looking for a drink. When she takes some money in the bag to buy drinks, Folace is so aggressive with her that she goes out very quickly.Raoul says he would like very much to share a drink with his friends, but Folace tells him that the kid have drunk everything in the house, and that the only bottle left is an old bottle of moonshine whisky. Even those tough men find it a bit strange to drink, and get drunk very quickly.Meanwhile, Antoine is telling Patricia he feels like telling «uncle Fernand» about their love.Back in the kitchen, all the men are completely drunk. Raoul feels like visiting the bathroom very urgently, and rushes out of the kitchen.When Raoul goes out of the bathroom, he feels better, even though he is still drunk, and he starts flirting with Patricia, offering to give her a «job» in Egypt. Patricia knows very well what kind of a job he means, but Antoine doesn't find it very funny.Back in the kitchen, Raoul tells Fernand about the «inappropriate» jealousy of Antoine, and Fernand decides it is time to close the shop.Helped by the Volfoni brothers and Folace, Fernand kicks all the guests out of the house. The men are so excited by their job that they even kick Paul Volfoni out, which makes them laugh a lot. But they stop laughing when they see Patricia crying on the staircase.Next morning, Folace wakes up Fernand to tell him that Patricia has gone away during the night with her suitcase. Fortunately, Jean wrote down the license plate of the taxicab who took her away.The cab driver brings Fernand to Antoine's apartment. When Fernand walks in the living-room, Antoine is experimenting «musique concrète» (concrete music). He doesn't seem to appreciate Fernand interrupting him. But Patricia calms Fernand down when she walks in from the kitchen. She tells her «uncle» she is going to marry Antoine. Fernand likes the idea better when she tells him that Antoine's father is vice-president of the International Monetary Fund.Two or three days later, it is Fernand's birthday. Early in the morning, Patricia, Jean and Folace give him a present each. Patricia adds a present brought in very early from the Volfoni brothers. When Fernand hears a threatening tick-tock coming from the parcel, he throws it through the open window, and the parcel explodes in the garden. We can see Théo and Vincent walking discreetly away.Fernand goes to the Volfoni's barge, and, when Raoul opens the door, Fernand sings «Happy Birthday» and then punches Raoul violently on the nose. After his departure, Raoul fixes a small bomb to get his own back on Fernand.During the night, Fernand hears a strange noise and puts a gun in his night-robe pocket.Meanwhile in the garage, Raoul is putting his bomb inside Fernand's car. He sends his brother away to check on the surroundings, and after Paul's departure, Fernand walks discreetly in the garage.After Fernand has «taken care» of Raoul, we find the latter in an hospital room, covered with bandages and plaster casts.Fernand's «accident» with the truck full of moonshine is in the newspapers' front page. But Pascal and Bastien tells Fernand it was wrong of him to think it was the Volfoni's fault. They explain that, if the Volfoni had decided to kill Fernand or Henri, the first person they would have asked to do it would have been Bastien, their official gunman. Pascal thinks the whole business comes from Théo. Fernand asks Pascal and Bastien to go and have a friendly chat with Théo.In the distlllery, Pascal and Bastien do not find Théo, but only Tomate. They make him talk and then kill him. When he finds Tomate's body, Théo understands he is next on their list, and he decides to take care of Fernand before Fernand takes care of him.Théo, Vincent and Freddy try to storm the manor, but Folace, Jean and Fernand don't let them do it and fight back. In the middle of a gunfight that looks like something out of a Western movie, Amédée Delafoy (Pierre Bertin), Antoine's father, crosses the park to ask «Uncle Fernand» the hand of his «niece» Patricia for his son. The gunfight goes on, but, because Amédée is deaf as a doorpost, he doesn't hear a thing ! He begins to have a feeling that something may be wrong when a bullet hits the ceiling above him and he gets covered with plaster ! The gunfight stops with the arrival of Pascal and Bastien. Théo thinks that, with two marksmen on the other side, the fight is not fair anymore.To take his own back for his defeat, Théo waits for Raoul coming out of the hospital along with his brother, and shoots them. Both Raoul and Paul Volfoni are back in an hospital room, both covered with bandages and plaster casts !A few days later, Fernand is getting his «niece» married. He is wearing a frock coat and has a quiet chat with the bridegroom, Antoine, when Pascal comes in discreetly to warn him that Théo is leaving the distillery with his friends. Fernand asks Jean and Folace to take care of the guests while he is going to take care of Théo with Pascal and Bastien, who is waiting for them at the distillery.At the distillery, Théo and Freddy are sorting out important or incriminating documents, which Théo puts inside a bag. When Vincent comes in to tell them about Fernand's arrival, they take their weapons to give Fernand a warm welcome.The first to die is Vincent, burned to death by a jerry can full of gasoline, set on fire by Bastien. Next comes Freddy, who, after a long fistfight with Fernand, breaks through a brick wall on the first floor of the building down to the ground.Théo succeeds in escaping with his car. But Pascal prevents Fernand from running after him, because it is almost wedding time. Pascal and Bastien help Fernand to fix his frock coat, a bit torn during the fight, and bring him in front of the church just when Folace was starting to think he would never see him.While the service is going on inside the church, Théo parks in front of the church, and gets his machine-gun ready for Fernand and guests when they walk out of the church.Inside the church, every one is listening to the organ and choral music, when they hear a loud blast coming from outside the church. They all turn their heads toward the door, through which Pascal and Bastien walk in very quietly, and make a respectful sign of the cross.The last scene of the film shows Théo's car burning in front of the church with Théo inside the car !

Review: It seems like everyone makes a big deal about having to speak french, understand older french slang, etc.
in order to enjoy this movie.
I know about ten words of French, and still found this movie hilarious.
To assert that the dialogue is the central virtue of the film does the actors a HUGE disservice, in addition to limiting comedy to merely spoken jokes and gags.
Lino Ventura is a great comedic presence, which may strike many as odd, taking into account his more well-known "serious" roles in films like Francesco Rosi's "Cadaveri eccellenti," and Jean-Pierre Melville's "Army of Shadows." He is a very underrated, and often over-looked actor who could play comedy just as well as he could play seldom-speaking leaders of the French resistance.
Although I could understand a knowledge of French culture and language enhancing some of the nuances of the dialogue, do not be swayed away from this great film by the words of others declaring it is "too French." It is a classic comedy that transcends language barriers, and certainly serves as a great light-hearted companion piece to the many distinctive French gangster films of the era.
For a number of years now they have fed us movies about the adventures of mutant superheroes (o.k., I admit I have seen and enjoyed one or two of them).
This was preceded by the surreal Schwarzenegger-Stallone-Van Damme-decade (also called the eighties), with action-flick actors whose muscle mass far exceeded their acting skills.
The event that caused the extinction of such dinosaurs as Lino Ventura, Jean Gabin, Lee Marvin, Humphrey Bogart and the like must have been the counter-culture of the sixties.
We had movie-stars who were real, gentlemanly (sometimes), cool, human and funny as well as ugly but sexy and we went and replaced them with a bunch of guys in a mask and cape (and I don't mean Zorro).Luckily we all have our VCRs and DVD players and blockbuster and amazon and are able to enjoy movies like Les Tontons Flinguers, one of the funniest, coolest and yet silliest movies of all time.
Every actor a character, every dialogue a gem, every scene a revelation about how to make it look easy.
Go see this film before you even contemplate to watch Spiderman III!.
Now that French cinema surrendered to metro-sexual archetypes, a movie like "Monsieur Gangster" is one breath of masculine air to refresh those among us who stuck to the old-fashioned ways, when men listened to other men twice their weight, where a good face-punch was the most eloquent authority assessment, when roles-wise, the leader was the dealer, when guns gunned, silencers silenced and men shot first and asked the questions later.If you're a fan of classic Warner-era gangster movies, of Tarantino before he imitated Scorsese imitating Spielberg, if you adore Jean-Pierre Melville and abhor the so-called New-Wave -this celebration of existential boredom committed by a privileged group of elitist onanists, defined as the new standard of the silver screen- "Monsieur Gangster" and his gang of buffers to please all the movie buffs, is tailor-made for you.
(Yes, that sounds like elitism but it's a reverse one, one that takes its stuff seriously enough not to take it seriously, even through the lousiest comical devices and comedic vices, just for the sake of a male-bonding good time)."Fatheads dare everything, that's even how we recognize them" the line exceeded the film and became a real-life proverb, proved right all throughout the film, with this joyful gang of fatheads, questioning the authority of their new leader: Fernand Naudin, played by Lino Ventura in his comical break-through role.
The film starts when Naudin leaves his provincial tractor's shops to meet an old friend, known as the "Mexican".
He finds "The Mexican" in a deathbed and one last request: the poisoned gift that will give the film its irresistible spice: Naudin must take care of his business, including his daughter.
Naudin soon starts wondering which of the racket, not-so legal, or the girl, not-so angelic, is the most insufferable.However, we know Naudin is a man of his word not to the former lieutenants' pleasure, "you didn't take that seriously" asked one of them, "let's say I was wrong" dryly retorts Naudin.
The cards are set, the antagonists are the Volfoni brothers Raoul and Paul, played by Bernard Blier, one of the most defining faces of French popular cinema, an actor whose presence enhanced every type of personality, and the droopy-eyed Jean Lefebvre, a sure value in the lovable losers' department.
But he's the one who frontally threatens Naudin : "you prepare yourself for sleepless nights, migraines, nervous breakdowns as they say", the last one is said in English with a delightful French accent, only rivaled by Naudin's butler played by the Jean Gabin (literally) of characters actors: Robert Dalban.To complete this irresistible ensemble, there is Maitre Folace, a meek and polite lawyer played by Francis Blanche, eager to protect his master's interest no matter what.
His "don't touch the money, you bitch" outburst, with tickling eyes betraying a menacing nervousness, followed by a shot on Blier and Ventura, staring at the "bitch" as if their eyes pointed guns is one of the film's most hilarious moments, proving that none is to be underestimated.
Yet Raoul spends half the time being punched in the face by Naudin (the film's trademark, always followed by catchy banjo music) and the other half stating that he won't take it anymore.
The villains are so laughable that the film needed a German killer to keep a cloud of danger floating on Naudin's solidly-built shoulders, but it never distracts from the comedy.The film was directed by George Lautner, who signed one of the most memorable French gangster films (including "The Professional") but it's mostly praised for its writing by Michel Audiard, the street-wise dialog-expert who gave an indelible magic poetry to Parisian slang, making him the Rimbaud of Vulgarity.
Audiard is probably the most likely writer to be lost into translation, hence my fear that subtitles might kill the experience of "Monsieur Gangster", if only for the little bits in English uttered by the scene-stealing butler.
Still, it's impossible to resist the dialogues, whose charm transcended generations and became catchphrases in French Pop-Culture.
In one of Audiard's other written films, a woman wants to go to Rio with her boyfriend, "We don't bring sausages when we go to Frankfurt" is his laconic reply.That's the Audiard touch; it's a man's world, made of acid dialogues and muscular confrontations.
The film does lose its pace at parts, the girl, the German gangster, the soon-to-be son-in-law, played by Claude Rich, suffer by comparison with the glorious cast, but the film is redeemed by some brilliant pieces of acting and writing, immortalized in the mythical kitchen scene when the four men challenge themselves to drink one tough liquor.
Lino Ventura feared that scene because he would challenge other actors used to comedy...
Watching these four giants, speaking of alcohol, money and women is indeed the highlight of the film.
And I learned that after the shooting, Ventura came back home and told his wife "we finally made it!" and from his relief, it didn't feel as they've been drinking chamomile.Surprisingly, the film met with poor reception, abandoned by a youth, brainwashed by the Cinema's Cahiers and the Nouvelle Vague, before they realized the Emperor was as naked as Brigitte Bardot in any film she did.
And if "Monsieur Gangster" was loathed by the critics, today, it's an indisputable classic of French cinema, all it took was Audiard's writing and French actors with talent as huge as their noses.
A breed of men that can only invite for a sorrowed observation : "they don't make like this anymore" So, if subtleties in subtitles, 'bang bang' in slang and Frenchy frenzy give you allergy, "Monsieur Gangster" might not be the wisest choice, no sir.
What is so special about this movie ?
It lasts about two hours, and you don't have any time to breathe, because of the intelligence, and the spirit of every quote.
Under the appearance of a classic dark detective movie, it is one of the funniest comedy ever made.
The only thing is that, to keep the atmosfear, you ought to see it in original version (french).
But, for Audiard and his humor, for Launtner and his inspired direction, and, most of all, for the actors (especially Bernard Blier) everybody in the whole world must see it at least once.
One of the greatest french movies ever made (and God knows the quality of the french cinema) !.
Les Tontons flingueurs is a real master piece!
Audiard was a genius writing in "green language" (la langue verte, slang from 50's/60's full of sharp metaphor) its really irresistible....
Unfortunately this movie cannot be translated, too bad it deserve at least  10 oscars!
Un film "cult".
It was one of the greatest french comedies.Dialogs were from Michel AUDIARD, but you must listen them in French.It's theses dialogs which have made the notoriety of this movie.
Five great actors are these "Monsieur GANGSTER" (Lino Ventura, Francis Blanche, Robert Dalban, Bernard Blier and Jean Lefebvre).The greatest scene is when these five gangsters are drinking alcohol in the kitchen.
It's one of the funniest movies I've seen.
If you don't speak french, it's more difficult to understand dialogs because translation is often different that original language.
Forty year later, I love always this film "cult".
After the Killer Tomatoes we now have the Killer Uncles (a more or less literal translation of an untranslatable movie).
The level of word-play may be guessed at even by non-French speakers when the credits announce it is based on the novel 'To grisbi or not grisbi', which is, in itself, a nod to another novel and classic French movie 'Touchez-pas aux grisbi', with 'grisbi' in both cases being underworld slang for 'loot' in the sense of 'hot' money.
Although it has all the trappings of a 'gangster' entry this is actually a comedy of bad manners involving two factions led respectively by Lino Ventura and Bernard Blier.
While ex-wrestler Ventura has no problem acting tough Blier, arguably the best actor in the piece by light years and equally at home across the acting spectrum, plays it for laffs so that what we wind up with is a melange.
Another French classic.
This French film is a marvel for its dialogues, they are, unfortunately, and like most French comedies, completely untranslatable into another language.
Not only is it humorous expressions, but in addition, a number of expressions are comical in their employment against, by transforming nouns into adjectives or the reverse, by the use of expressions that do not match social milieu of the characters through the use of games typically french words without equivalence in another language.
Most situations can be understood only if we know the French life, so it is normal that this cinematic gem have only limited success outside the French public..
I agree with all reviewers of this film, though they don't seem to agree one with the other.
The other point is most of the reviewers, if not all of them, are French.
You have to be French, otherwise, you'll pass over what makes this film so brilliant.
In other words, what would be the point watching "gone with the wind" being deaf and blind?
Still, if you are able to catch the delicious subtleness and unbelievable richness of Parisian argot (slang spoken for over 500 years makes it vintage.
10 because it's worth it, minus 1 because it's French..
Probably one of the most poorly directed classics of French cinema, but valued for Audiard's dialogue and the acting of the whole ensemble: you will still find French people able to quote huge chunks of the dialogue, and to remember the detail of performances by Ventura, Blier et al.In mid New Wave, with its many refinements of mise-en-scene and montage, Lautner's film is a crude mix of zooms, inapposite close-ups and ugly compositions.
Lautner does not pretend to rival Chabrol or Godard, though in the last sequence he includes a New Wave type allusion to his 'Monocle' films with Paul Meurisse.
Without the linguistic knowledge to appreciate the subtlety of the vulgar French, or the cinematic knowledge to appreciate the nuances in the performance of the actors, I doubt if this film is accessible to an international audience, which is as it should be.
There is a part of all national film cultures that is precious because it is particular.
Personally, I would find it impossible to teach this film in the French Cinema courses I run, because it is too French..
For performances, humor, lovely portrait of a small world and Lino Ventura in a role who seems be one of his admirable works.
Using, as basic trait, great science to do the right comedy.
A lovely film.
In fact, a film about appearences and truth.
Having , as great good point, the best actors and the perfect plot..
This is a great comedy where everyone knows his work and do it perfectly.
It's interesting that's this movie of 1963 is still funny today.
George Lautner created with Michel Audiard a perfect melancholy remedy..
Killer movie, can bore you to death.
I watched this movie in two sittings.
That is usually OK for comedies but silly do not always means funny.
And this movie is not funny at all.
I like intelligent comedies but this was not the case either.
Until about half the movie I was quite puzzled because it seemed to me simple like a bad gangster movie, nothing funny happened.
I don't get why it was funny to see the same smacking scene again and again.
Some have commented about the use of French language.
I guess it all went over my head as I watched it subtitled.
I can speak some French but probably not to the level needed to appreciate those subtleties.
I would not recommend this movie to anyone..
super cult french film noir spoof.
A gem, a gem, and again : a gem!The most "cult" film of the french production, this film never gets old thanks to the fantastic dialogs of the genius Michel Audiard...The only drawback?
to understand fully this film's incredible wit, one has to be able to recognize in full the subtle nuances of french language, from the rudest expressions of gangster speech to the most upscale diplomatic language, with so many intermediate stops that it's impossible to tell!"Morons dare anything...That's how one identifies them!""Hey did ya see that?
OK, is not an easy movie to understand, if your not familiar to old french slang, the real argot if you see what I mean...
yet, this is an easy movie to understand, since you don't need to be familiar to argot : les tontons flingueurs is a classic OK ?
No need of big arguments, no need to summarize the movie to non-frenchspeakers, simply see it in original version (with subtitles or with a french friend) and you'll agree with me !!!
Lino Ventura shines in sharp-witted and cynical comedy.
On his dying bed, a middle-aged gangster entrusts both his fortune and his daughter to a childhood friend.
A movie which, to put it mildly, does not live and breathe an all-embracing love for humanity.
"Les tontons" is notable mainly for its excellent cast and performances - Ventura is outstanding - and for its sharp-witted dialogues, which are as cool and bracing as a vodka martini.
Many of these "bons mots" and aphorisms have entered French culture.
And rightly so : what about the psychological accuracy of a gem like "Morons will try anything, in fact that's how you recognize them" ?Serves as a useful reminder of the fact that many a golden-haired beauty owes her finishing school poise to an ancestral fortune rooted in violence, crime and exploitation..
Tastes a bit like Beet Juice.
All right, it was fun, I'll admit it...Lino Ventura doing his thing, a Simonin adaptation (like Touchez Pas au Grisbi, one of my favorite films), lots of Culture Clash between "high" and "low" language - illustrated brilliantly in Michel Audiard's script.
A classic "modern composer" scene (I collect those), some funny music cues (especially the church organ playing the movie's theme as the wedding processional).
But it ain't a great movie.
Another reviewer here called it something like "the worst - directed French classic", and that sounds about right.
It's a movie of bits and moments.
The more serious and sustained the action scene is supposed to be, the more unsuccessful the movie is.
The intrigue hits hard, the dialog and scenes are dense with an opaque atmosphere, there's tough guy talk and demeanor all over in each scene...and then, it switches right into all-out comedy.
It appears the earlier bulk of the film was merely serving as an introduction then to a sort of ode to friendship and lightheartedness...
but then the film towards the end goes back to its initial intrigue which seemed lost in the mix and made unimportant.
There are good scenes to be enjoyed, sure, but - what is this film really, as a whole ?
It would be difficult to summarize to someone as a plot as the film delves into various totally separate units, like it's some kind of collection of sketches and fun ideas to act out.
One of the last scenes with the half-deaf Delafoy father and all the shooting occurring in the house is hilarious, and the wacky sound samples used to mimic the shots in itself are a funny concept.
Ventura's brutal uncompromising character is fun to watch, but all in all there's not enough in the plot for the actors to be more than comic book rubber-quality characters and for the viewer to care at all for them, making the plot irrelevant and all the attention drawn to the purely entertaining fiber of the comedy.
Even a comedy should have something to sensitize the viewer, and some kind of message towards the end.