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10/04/2008, 22:29 NormanH Joined on 10/04/2008 Posts 179 Re: Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis Nor did I It is a mildly amusing hour and a half, but nowhere near as good as all the hype makes it seem. There are a lot of tired old jokes, which are even pretty non-PC (an able-bodied man in a wheelchair pretending to be handicapped, or barring the door of the bedroom because the host might (horror be HOMOSEXUAL ...he isn't, that might upset somebody) : I actually found it quite offensive at the start, but it quickly became clear that it is so feeble that real exception can't be taken. The central performances based on the idea that frenetic action is funny (à la Louis de Funès) and there is much that is derivative and anodyne It was obviously made as a money-spinning actor's piece. It is based on the very French idea of being 'muté' somewhere uncongenial for your job. No question of getting 'on your bike' It is yet another French retreat into sentimental smugness: none of the real problems of daily life are to be seen. How heart-warming all these good folk are   It's not "la Grande Vadrouille " but it is an escape from reality.    Report

12/04/2008, 16:35 Tourangelle Joined on 31/08/2004 37 Posts 934 Re: Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis I thought it was ok, certainly don't not go to see it for the language element, because if you don't happen to know the local expressions, you just discover them with the character from the south.  I agree with the comments above and I also think it was suprising that with a film about stereotypes the main character didn't have more of a southern accent. I once had a trainee from Salon de Provence and I found him more difficult to understand than anybody in the film!    Report

12/04/2008, 17:03 J.R's gone native Joined on 16/07/2006 Picardie, Sussex Posts 1,695 Re: Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis I am due to see it tonight but have been suffering from Delhi-belly (or if there is anything that rhymes with Merguez it would be more appropriate) all today so may not be able to stray far enough to make the trip.    Report

13/04/2008, 0:16 J.R's gone native Joined on 16/07/2006 Picardie, Sussex Posts 1,695 Re: Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis Finally managed to leave "mi baracque" and got to see it with "mi ch'ti beloute" who comes from Lille and has already seen it once. I thoroughly enjoyed it, it was a real feelgood film as someone indicated, nearly as good as "its a wonderfull world" but shorter and outrageously funny. I had no problems with understanding it, the "chti" phrases that I didnt understand just added to the flavour; Even "mi ch'ti beloute" found new things to laugh at that she didnt get the first time and she is one! Oh and the non PC sketches I thought were very funny although I did feel uneasy during the part where they were play acting for the benefit of his visiting wife, it reminded me too much of the parts of UK society that I was glad to leave behind.    Report

13/04/2008, 4:28 Frenchie Joined on 31/05/2007 2 Sèvres,79 Posts 3,557 Re: Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis Chalut les  biloutes! Here is a little extract, one scene I liked in the film.. I understand the " CH'TI" quite well as my gran is from there, but I think if your command of French is ok, you should all be able to get most of it. Refreshing film, IMO, I liked it . http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=hiyA2z5u5kY Happy    Report

13/04/2008, 23:03 J.R's gone native Joined on 16/07/2006 Picardie, Sussex Posts 1,695 Re: Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis Today I visited my girlfriends parents at their farm in the Ch'tiNord for the first time, its lucky that I had seen the film first to be prepared, they seemed somewhat surprised when I asked for some Maroilles cheese to dunk in my coffee, maybe they thought that a foreigner would not have known to do that? Frenchie, that clip was my favorite and I will savor the others, in fact I want to see the film again, apparently one poor soul has seen it 17 times!    Report

14/04/2008, 1:10 Loiseau Joined on 23/08/2004 London/Vendée Posts 896 Re: Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis Really enjoyed the film!  While I was researching a book on the north of France, all my French friends from elsewhere would say "Why on earth do you want to go *there*!" and insist that the area is flat, boring, industrial, has bad weather, awful food etc etc.   (Not true, by the way! Or where slightly true, that's part of its charm.)   When they saw my photographs with blue sky and sparkling sea, they would exclaim "But it's always raining there; how come you have blue sky in that picture?"  So in the film the attitudes of the people from the south were exactly what I had come across myself.  (Loved even the motorway gendarmes letting Kad off in sympathy!) Bergues (main setting for the film) is one of my favourite little towns, still surrounded by its fortifications.  The carillonneur is for real; he plays a two-hour torrent of music - folk tunes and popular music - from the belfry during the brilliant market day on Monday morning.  The town is apparently now having to lay on "Ch'ti tours" for visitors (though its inhabitants are at pains to point out that they are not really Ch'tis, but Flamands).  And I understand that people have begun to steal the town-name signs.  Fame at last. I saw the film about a month ago, in the rural Vendee, and the cinema was packed out.  Last week, when I was there again, it was still on in just about every cinema.   It is also showing in London at the moment, at the Cine Lumiere by the French Institute in S Kensington, and also I think at the Empire Leicester Square.  I am looking forward to the excuse of a second viewing. The dialect is not a problem for those with reasonable French; as has been said earlier, you either guess the meaning along with the newcomer character, or it becomes clear from the action. OK, there are one or two moments that are a bit slapstick, but all in all it's a real feelgood movie, suitable for all generations, and everyone emerged from the cinema with a smile on their face. Angela www.northernfrance-within90minutesofcalais.co.uk      Report

14/04/2008, 8:50 Frenchie Joined on 31/05/2007 2 Sèvres,79 Posts 3,557 Re: Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis Loiseau, I agree 100% with what you wrote! I must admit I'd like to see the film again.. JR , cheese on bread dunk in coffee " à la chicorée" has always been familiar to me...   My gran is from a small place called Houtkerque , and I ve always seen that  done in my family. My mum was born and bred up north, so even in the south she kept some habits.. She makes the best chips on earth , and I remember when we were kids , sometimes, about once a week, for dinner we had coffee au lait , and we dunk our tartines with cheese on it .. Yeah, I know, most people will find it disgusting, but I promise... It's good!!   Happy    Report

14/04/2008, 11:27 J.R's gone native Joined on 16/07/2006 Picardie, Sussex Posts 1,695 Re: Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis  Loiseau wrote:  but all in all it's a real feelgood movie, suitable for all generations, and everyone emerged from the cinema with a smile on their face. www.northernfrance-within90minutesofcalais.co.uk Except perhaps PC Norman H?    Report

14/04/2008, 11:37 NormanH Joined on 10/04/2008 Posts 179 Re: Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis As I said I found it mildly amusing, but nothing more. It is certainly intended to be 'feelgood' but does it so obviously and clumsily that it doesn't work for me.    Report

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