Les aventures de Rabbi Jacob
Tags: avant garde

Plot synopsis:
Rabbi Jacob (Marcel Dalio) is one of the most loved rabbis of New York. One day, the French side of his family, the Schmolls, invite him to celebrate the bar mitzvah of the young David. Rabbi Jacob boards a plane to leave America for his birthland of France after more than 30 years of American life. His young friend Rabbi Samuel comes with him.
In Normandy, the rich businessman Victor Pivert (Louis de Funès) is also on his way; his daughter (Miou-Miou) will be married the next day. Pivert is a dreadful man: bad-tempered, rude and a bigot, with a well-honed racism against blacks, Jews, and pretty much all foreigners. He and his driver, Salomon (Henri Guybet), have a car accident in which Pivert's car (carrying a speed boat) flips upside-down into a lake. When Salomon, who is Jewish, refuses to help because Shabbat has just begun, Pivert fires him, much to Salomon's content.
Arab revolutionist leader Mohamed Larbi Slimane (Claude Giraud) is kidnapped by killers who are working for his country's government. The team, led by Colonel Farès, takes him by night to an empty bubble gum factory... the same place where Victor Pivert goes to find assistance. Pivert involuntarily helps Slimane to flee, leaving two killers' corpses behind them. The police, alerted by Salomon, find the bodies and accuse Pivert of the crime.
The next day, Slimane forces Pivert to go to Orly airport to catch a plane to Slimane's country (if the revolution succeeds, he will become President). However, they are followed by a number of people: the jealous Germaine, Pivert's wife, who thinks her husband is going to leave her for another woman; Farès and the killers; and the police commissioner Andréani (Claude Piéplu), a zealous and overly suspicious cop who imagines that Pivert is the new Al Capone. Farès and his cohorts manage to kidnap Germaine, and they use her own dentist equipment to interrogate her.
Trying to conceal his and Pivert's identities, Slimane attacks two rabbis in the toilets, stealing their clothes and shaving their beards and their payot. The disguises are perfect, and they are mistaken for Rabbi Jacob and Rabbi Samuel by the Schmoll family. The only one who recognizes Pivert (and Slimane) behind the disguise is Salomon, his former driver, who just happens to be a Schmoll nephew. But Pivert and Slimane are able to keep their identity secret and even manage to hold a sermon in Hebrew, thanks to the polylingual Slimane (who is deeply gutted, of course).
After a few misunderstandings, Commissioner Andréani and his two inspectors are mistaken by the Jews for terrorists, attempting to kill Rabbi Jacob. The real Rabbi Jacob arrives at Orly, where no one is waiting for him any more. He is mistaken for Victor Pivert by the police, then by Farès and his killers (both times in a painful way for his long beard).
There is a chaotic, but sweeping happy ending:
the revolution is a success, and Slimane becomes President of the Republic
Pivert's daughter falls in love with Slimane and escapes her dull fiance near the altar to go with him
Pivert learns tolerance towards other religions and cultures, and also Salomon and Slimane make peace with their respective Arab and Jewish colleagues
the Schmolls finally find the real Rabbi Jacob
the Piverts and the Schmolls go together feasting and celebrating

Review: Life couldn't be better.The one thing the handful of viewings of the film has taught me is that the movie plays differently every time I see it.
No matter though I've enjoyed it each time I've watched it.The story of a bigot who gets way laid and ends up on the run all over France only to end up posing as a beloved Rabbi, is ripe with comic potential most of which is put to good use.
Also put to good use are some twists that no rational person would come up with, but which work in the context of a wild comedy, the bubble gum factory for example.This is a wonderful life affirming story that makes you laugh until you cry while showing that ultimately we are all the same.
Which is kind of tragic in view of the films opening shots which are some of the earliest film footage shot at the World Trade Center, which had just opened.If you like to laugh see this movie, its wonderful..
Meanwhile the bigoted French Victor Pivert (Louis de Funès), who is the owner of a factory, is traveling by car with his Jewish driver Salomon (Henri Guybet) to France to the marriage of his daughter Antoinette Pivert (Miou-Miou).
When they meet the Jewish community that is welcoming Rabbi Jacob in the airport, they have to proceed in the farce getting in more confusion."Les Aventures de Rabbi Jacob" is one of the funniest comedies of cinema history, with a complex screenplay entwining the lives of several characters without coincidences but hilarious situations.
Louis de Funès is fantastic with a top-notch performance, considered by fans of the French king of the comedy as his best ever.
This is slapstick farce at its very best, triumphantly showcasing Luis De Funes, who was as big a comedy star in France as was Jerry Lewis.
The premise is the typical switched identities / coincidental mixups / innocent man being chased plots of the genre, but what makes this one sublime is the unbelievably rubber face and spot-on timing of De Funes, backed up by a good supporting cast, decent script and excellent direction.
It's worth it!PS: As a little treat, look closely at the actor who plays Rabbi Jacob.
After seeing this movie, I wanted to write a review saying how funny this film was, so anyone checking IMDB would know.
I can only add that my French teacher said most French people have seen the movie many times and practically know it by heart.
Adventures of Rabbi Jacob with the great comedian Louis de Funs is probably his greatest achievement to date.
Unfortunately this movie is unavailable even in France, but I am sure that it will soon appear on DVD as have some other de Funs movies at this time, two by Gerard Oury..
Louis de Funès was the comedian of the french television and is still extremely popular there as in many other countries like Belgium or Germany (in Germany at least a bit) I can recommend every movie he has made, but this one is still my favourite!!.
I think one of the funniest scenes is when the loud over-the-top older Jewish lady meets LDF in his disguise as Rabbi Jacob at the airport & they talk about different types of fur coats in crazy accents & with the maddest wordplay ever I can't imagine how this was translated into English (especially as I'm a translator myself!).
Give Louis de Funes a good role and the freedom to go nuts, and you will have a good movie.
In Rabbi Jacob, Funes is the owner of an industrial plant who "knows that the people like to be lied to" ("mais il AIME qu'on lui mente, le peuple!").
If you've seen de Funes before, I'm sure you can imagine the hilarious scenes that arise out of this predicament..
I grew up watching this film in our Beta video (oh yes, way before VHS existed and DVD wasn't even thought of) and now, 20 years later I see it again in an anniversary edition.
I just watched it on DVD with my father again and was a blast from the past for both of us, he had seen it with my granddad 35 years ago in the cinema and with me and my brothers several times on video.
I am saving this film to watch with my kids too in the future, they'll grow up with it too.Such a great time...and so many memories.
Louis de Funes plays the role of Victor Pivert, an industrialist with a Napoleonic complex and a tendency for racist viewpoints, who inadvertantly teams up with, Mohamed Larbi Slimane, an exiled Arab political oposition candidate who is on the run from hired assassins in Paris.
Pivert and Slimane masquerade as two Jewish rabbis in order to save their lives.
Watch out for the incredible mime scenes by Louis de Funes at the gas station and in the Orly airport..
This brief exchange is one of the most memorable comedic movie scenes of French cinema and I admire Gérard Oury, who directed the film, for his equal talent as a writer.
It's funny because no one would make such a big deal about having a Jewish driver and be so damn serious about it, and it's also smart because it sets the tone of our lead character: Louis de Funès as Victor Pivert, a racist, xenophobic and narrow-minded bigot.
Not racist but glad though that his daughter is marrying a white, "very white  even a little bit too pale" in his opinion.Only Louis de Funès could have played a despicable character with such comical appeal.
And this lesson is very explicit in the film's synopsis: Pivert becomes the hostage of an Arab revolutionary leader named Mohamed Larbi Slimane (Claude Giraud) and to escape from some other Arab goons, both disguise as rabbis.
And beyond this ethnic premise, one of the funniest movies of French cinema: a comedy of slapstick and errors, but not without a subtle and poignant touch of social and political commentary."The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob" marks also the pinnacle of the collaboration between Gérard Oury and Louis de Funès, after three of the greatest French box-office successes, with a de Funès, at the top of his game with his hot-tempered mannerisms and all the expressions that elevate his talent to the level of Chaplin, Keaton and Donald Duck.
Take the way he mimics the sound of a woodpecker ('Pivert' in French) when he gives his name, his devilish smiles, his body language, a true comical talent who alas would never be the same after "The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob".
Indeed, Louis de Funès suffered a massive heart attack two years after the film, and would never have the same range of physical talent.
But let's get back to the laughs."The Mad Avdentures of Rabbi Jacob" starts with a respected Rabbi leaving New York for the first time after 30 years, to celebrate his nephew's bar mitzvah.
Rabbi Jacob is played by Marcel Dalio, Gabin's companion in "Grand Illusion", the croupier in "Casablanca", an underrated figure of French cinema, miserably exploited by the Nazi occupation to denounce the Jewish control on filmmaking.
Rabbi Jacob is Dalio's last memorable role and what a fitting way to share it with another veteran actor.
And involuntarily, it's Rabbi Jacob and his assistant who contribute to the misunderstanding, because they share the same physical features than Pivert and Slimane, so when the lead pair is seen at the airport by an old Jewish grandmother who can barely see, Pivert becomes Rabbi Jacob, and Slimane Rabbi Zeligman.The film is a spell-binding rodeo of gags, involving Pivert, Slimane, three Arab agents, three French cops, the Schmoll Family, Pivert's wife, from a chewing-gum factory to a dentist's room, from a synagogue to a Jewish quarter street, with an interesting running-gag involving Slimane's fondness on red-headed women.
If you haven't seen the film yet, just watch this part on Youtube: a real classic of French cinema.The film is punctuated with more serious moments, particularly relevant in the context of the film (released right before the Kippur War) and even today, when both Pivert and Slimane bless the Jewish boy, and the powerful handshake between Sliman and Salomon, after Pivert genuinely asked them "Sliman, Salomon  are you guys cousins?" Like the greatest comedies, the film knows how to loosen up, and it was a nice touch for Gérard Oury to think of such moments.
Oury, from a Jewish background, can hardly be accused of Anti-Semitism of course, but through his film, he proves that one of the most essential elements of Jewish humor is self-derision.The film features also one of the most memorable scores of French cinema from the Master Vladimir Cosma, the sight of New York with his catchy Yiddish-like tone is the film's most unforgettable signature, enriched with a more melancholic melody at the end.
Speaking of the ending, it's a bit chaotic in the way it sweeps off many of the subplots with some deus ex machina resolutions or cringe-worthy dated humor, but it doesn't really affect the film, not after so many great laughs anyway.
Louis is very funny in this one, and the film reflects on every aspect of being Jewish, the cultural aspect and other religions in broader view.
In "The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob", Louis De Funes can apply all his talents: Not only his notorious fast-talking that makes him even for native French speakers hard to understand, the sudden break-outs of his temper, his enormous capability for slapstick which included for him playing whole scenes without a double, but also his wonderful pantomimic talents.
In this film, his name in "Pivert" (which sounds a bit like "pervert"), this is the bird pee-wit, and whenever Victor Pivert is asked about his name, he feels urged to imitate the bird in a pantomimic manner, whereby his acting gets every time more insane.
De Funes played his movies with such an intensity that he suffered several heart attacks before his last one killed him in 1983.
French people say that the three greatest French comedians of all times were (in alphabetic order) Bourvil, Fernandel and Louis De Funes.
In the films of Bourvil and Fernandel you can laugh with a warm and happy heart, but in the films of Louis De Funes you cry out with insane laughter.
And now look: In the USA there are exactly 2 of his movies available: "The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob" and "Delusions of Grandeur", both directed by the French comedy giant Gérard Oury.
A third movie, again by Oury, you can buy from a New York video place for approximately 50 dollars on VHS: "La Grande Vadrouille" - by many considered one of the best French movies ever.
Only from the 6 "Le Gendarme De St-Tropez" movies which made De Funes internationally known, not one is on a DVD that would play on an average American player.
One of the best movie featuring Louis DeFunès.
In this one, he plays Pivert, a French industrialist who's all surprise to learn that his assistant, Salomon, is Jewish!
I've seen this movie maybe a half-dozen times, but never got tired of it.
That's good for *** out **** stars.Seen at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival, at the Bloor Cinema, on April 24th, 2002..
One of the funniest Louis de Funes Movies.
If you have seen other Louis de Funes movies, and have missed on this one, you need to rectify this immediately!
Louis de Funes was at his best as Rabbi Jacob, and the rest of the cast isn't bad either.
Comic of situation never stops.One thing I would mention in particular: contrary to other 70s-80s french comedy which tend to age a bit, this movie has remained unscathed by time, and is every bit as funny as the first time I watched it.For those of you who have never seen Louis de Funes in action, check out the small, bald, eternally grumpy, over-excited comedy star that he was...no wonder my favourite comic died of a heart attack!.
I accidentally re-viewed this movie and to my surprise, it's humor worked out as a wonderful antidote to the recent painful terror we had to witness in Paris.
Main actor Louis de Funès is - even then at 58 years of age - a genuine example of an ADHD disorder.
His physical comedy, delivery and facial expressions are all sure to keep you laughing the entire film.With its theme of Jews & Arabs (and Frenchmen), I was wondering how this would hold up after 9/11.
'les aventures de rabbi jacob' and 'la grande vadrouille' are according to me the best french movies ever.
After some weeks of searching I managed to get both movies.'les aventures de rabbi jacob' has some epic movie scenes.
Every movie lover must see this scene.the second scene when louis de funes (known as rabbi jacob) gets in the Jewish town and must welcome the people.
To make this scene epic, louis de funes performs a nice Jewish groupdance....For some people louis de funes is just an hyperactive big-headed person.But if you can manage these characteristics, you will fall in love with the movie!.
"Les Aventures De Rabbi Jacob" (1973) is actually based on two very different plot lines: The movie starts in New York, showing children playing in a street somewhere in Lower East Side and waiting to say good-bye to their revered Rabbi Jacob, who, after more then thirty years, returns to his native France in occasion of the Bar-Mitzwah of his nephew David.
However, before the Rabbi and a good dozen of his friends make it - all together in one single taxi can - to the airport, the movie starts, so-to-say a second time, showing the industrial Mr. Pivert (Louis De Funes) and his chauffeur Salomon rushing home to Paris for the wedding of Pivert's daughter.
However, again, the fact that Salomon is Jewish, is a little side-line again to the real Rabbi Jacob, who turns out to be his uncle.
After a long and funny trip, they arrive just at Orly Airport where the real Rabbi Jacob and his assistant arrive (merging of the second and third with the first plot-line).
And at this point, the road-movie goes over into a screwball comedy, because the Jewish grand-mother, the sister-in-law of the real Rabbi Jacob, takes Pivert and Slimane for the real couple, because they had themselves to disguise as rabbis on their flight from the Colonel Fares and his henchmen and are at that time in Orly, when the real Rabbi and his assistant are scheduled to arrive.
Thus, Pivert and Slimane, neither Rabbis nor even familiar with basic Jewish customs, have to play their newly overtaken roles as good as it gets in order to escape Fares and the henchmen.
One really has to watch this movie several times - not because it is so complicated, but because in order to scoop out the tremendous potential of truly effective humor that is in it.
This film is doubtlessly De Funes greatest performance ever, he pulls out all the stops which he commands, there are even people saying that "Rabbi Jacob" remains to be the greatest French comedy made ever..
Like so many other Europeans of my age I split my sides with laughing when I saw Rabbi Jacob the first time 30-35 years ago.
And I was not disappointed.Sure, the movie drags a little here and there, especially in the opening scene (Rabbi Jacob leaving New York).
I first saw this movie when I was 8 years old, and I laughed my head of with the slapstick humor (the bubblegum factory scenes).
Now I laugh at all the subtle anti-racism humor, whether it is anti-Jew, anti-Muslim, anti-black and anti-Belgian ("un belge, là on est derrière un belge") humor which 25 years after the release is still very up-to-date and funny (a sign of good quality).
This is probably the funniest movie De Funes made in his brilliant career.
The movie is partly a physical comedy, but no modern comedians were as good at it as De Funes (Sellers in The Party comes close) and he made a great movie here.
As with some movies, this one is best watched in the original language, so here's a great reason to learn French!.
This early 70s movie is about a white catholic french racist man compelled to live a crazy week-end filled with Arabs and Jews!
For sure, the movie plays on the clichés about everyone (even the french!) and it's really funny!
So racism is erased by making people ask questions and a movie like this is the perfect tool!
Having grown up with his movies (them being brought regularly on German TV), I always had the impression that Louis de Funes and his films got better with age.
Perhaps one of the best examples is "The Mad Aventures of Rabbi Jacob".
But the performance becomes a little more subtle when de Funes character reluctantly goes into hiding as 'Rabbi Jacob'.
It mostly is in French.The plot is utterly insane with various groups of people chasing each other, mistaken identities all over, and a businessman trying to pass as a rabbi to avoid the bad guys killing him.I have never seen a movie with so many continuity breaks.
When I was young I have seen this movie and I have found it very funny.
Obviously, there were no Jewish actors in France at the time.
And Slimane is another Frenchman playing black-faced in the '70s.Of course, some of the French can be bigots, but look at the Pivert character: it is because he was not exposed to something else.
Louis de Funès is one of my favourite actors because of his physical way of acting and his perfect timing for expressions.
This comedy starts with industrial Victor Pivert, who's is always picking on his employees and is a real racist, picking on his Jewish chauffeur.