Le Distrait
Encyclopedia
Le Distrait is a 1970 French
comedy film
directed by Pierre Richard
, starring Pierre Richard, Marie-Christine Barrault
and Bernard Blier
.
The film combines elements of a slapstick
, horror
and romantic comedy
. The plot follows the adventures of Pierre Malaquet, an eccentric and extremely absent-minded
advertising manager. The prototype
of the character is Ménalque from Jean de La Bruyère
's "Caractères".
"Jerico" on his mother's recommendation. Full of bizarre advertising ideas, he meddles in other people's business and tries to remake everything in his own manner. His commercials
resemble horror film
s; themes of death and violence seem to amuse him, black humor is present in all of his works. He is convinced that "shocking" ads are the most effective. His actions annoy his coworkers, but to their great surprise, the strict boss Mr. Guiton forgives him for all his tricks - all because he is secretly involved with Malaquet's mother Glycia.
At the office Pierre makes friends with Lisa Gastier, Guiton's young and charming secretary. She turns out to be a daughter of one of the most important clients of the agency. Pierre is sent to bring an important contract
to his office for signing. As usual, Pierre confuses everything and instead of going to the office he goes to Gastier's house, where there is a party in a full swing. There he becomes a center of attention because of his odd behavior. A younger daughter of Gastier, Veronique, intends to "give him a little lesson", but finds herself in an awkward situation as a result. Mr. Gastier, who waited in vain for Pierre in his office, returns home and when he finds Pierre there, becomes furious and throws him out of the house.
The young wife of Mr. Guiton, Clarisse, tries to seduce Pierre in a greenhouse
, but it results in another amusing incident - when Pierre is undressing Clarisse, her long hair gets stuck in her zipper
, and to her horror, he cuts off her hair with pruning scissors.
Guiton allocates him in a small office on a ground floor, full of cages with parrot
s and without proper furniture, in an effort to hold him away from agency business and to spite him. But even here Pierre finds amusement for himself. Soon he gets the first client - a manufacturer of toothpaste
"Klerdene", eccentric and even more absent-minded than Pierre himself. While strolling with Lisa he gets an idea of street advertising of the toothpaste. The scenario is the following: a beautiful blonde walks down the street and all of a sudden faints. She gets surrounded by passers-by who start arguing about how to help her. A handsome young man appears and gives her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. She comes to her senses right away and asks rapturously: "Klerdene?" to which he responds affirmatively, and she says that "it is impossible to forget". Then the advertising slogan
is pronounced. Eventually this campaign
results in a fight between people for the right to give the woman mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and in a media scandal.
Pierre's next project was a street advertising of bags for plastic packets (!), which included smashing eggs
on people's heads and also resulted in a large-scale brawl and scandal.
Mr. Guiton still puts up with Pierre's wild escapades, in the minutes of anger soothing himself by remembering romantic moments with Malaquet's mother. But he runs out of patience after the next incident. Pierre makes an even more shocking commercial, believing that it will be a big success, but Lisa, understanding that it oversteps all limits already, convinces him to give it up. However, the videotape with the commercial gets to television by mistake and is broadcasted. It stirs up a huge scandal. Enraged TV viewers gather around the agency's building to express protest. Guiton understands that it may ruin agency's reputation. At the extraordinary meeting of the agency's management with the clients he finally decides to fire Malaquet. It upsets Lisa and she goes searching for Pierre. Meanwhile Pierre, who is attacked by angry marchers on his way to the office, sees a girl in a bath
in a big advertising poster. He imagines Lisa on her place and suddenly realizes that he is in love with Lisa. Beside himself in delight, he starts searching around for Lisa, as always getting into funny situations. At this time Lisa arrives at his apartment but doesn't find him there. Eventually Pierre finds her in his apartment taking a bath, and emotionally declares his love to her.
Pierre's mother convinces Guiton to give her son another chance. He decides to send him along with Lisa to work at the agency's office in the US. On board of the plane
, right before takeoff, Pierre goes searching for lavatory and somehow gets out of the plane, which takes off without him. Confused Pierre runs after the plane, a narrator recites the passage from "Caractères" by Jean de La Bruyère
, and the film ends.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed by Pierre Richard
Pierre Richard
Pierre Richard is a popular French actor best known for the roles of a clumsy daydreamer in comedy films...
, starring Pierre Richard, Marie-Christine Barrault
Marie-Christine Barrault
Marie-Christine Barrault is a French actress, who has appeared in 45 films and numerous television productions.Born in Paris, she got her start on television, in L'Œuvre, in 1967 and in the series Que ferait donc Faber? Her film debut was in 1969 in My Night at Maud's in 1969.In 1970 Barrault...
and Bernard Blier
Bernard Blier
Bernard Blier was a French character actor. His rotund features and premature baldness allowed him to often play cuckolded husbands in his early career. He proved to be one of France's most versatile and sought-after character actors, performing interchangeably in comedies and dramas...
.
The film combines elements of a slapstick
Slapstick
Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated violence and activities which may exceed the boundaries of common sense.- Origins :The phrase comes from the batacchio or bataccio — called the 'slap stick' in English — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in Commedia dell'arte...
, horror
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
and romantic comedy
Romantic Comedy
Romantic Comedy can refer to* Romantic Comedy , a 1979 play written by Bernard Slade* Romantic Comedy , a 1983 film adapted from the play and starring Dudley Moore and Mary Steenburgen...
. The plot follows the adventures of Pierre Malaquet, an eccentric and extremely absent-minded
Absent-mindedness
Absent-mindedness is where a person shows inattentive or forgetful behaviour. It can have three different causes:# a low level of attention...
advertising manager. The prototype
Prototype
A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
of the character is Ménalque from Jean de La Bruyère
Jean de La Bruyère
Jean de La Bruyère was a French essayist and moralist.-Ancestry:He was born in Paris, not, as was once thought, at Dourdan in 1645...
's "Caractères".
Synopsis
Pierre Malaquet is a creative, zany and incredibly scatterbrained young man, not of this world, always getting into comic situations. He is hired to a big advertising agencyAdvertising agency
An advertising agency or ad agency is a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients. An ad agency is independent from the client and provides an outside point of view to the effort of selling the client's products or services...
"Jerico" on his mother's recommendation. Full of bizarre advertising ideas, he meddles in other people's business and tries to remake everything in his own manner. His commercials
Television advertisement
A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...
resemble horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
s; themes of death and violence seem to amuse him, black humor is present in all of his works. He is convinced that "shocking" ads are the most effective. His actions annoy his coworkers, but to their great surprise, the strict boss Mr. Guiton forgives him for all his tricks - all because he is secretly involved with Malaquet's mother Glycia.
At the office Pierre makes friends with Lisa Gastier, Guiton's young and charming secretary. She turns out to be a daughter of one of the most important clients of the agency. Pierre is sent to bring an important contract
Contract
A contract is an agreement entered into by two parties or more with the intention of creating a legal obligation, which may have elements in writing. Contracts can be made orally. The remedy for breach of contract can be "damages" or compensation of money. In equity, the remedy can be specific...
to his office for signing. As usual, Pierre confuses everything and instead of going to the office he goes to Gastier's house, where there is a party in a full swing. There he becomes a center of attention because of his odd behavior. A younger daughter of Gastier, Veronique, intends to "give him a little lesson", but finds herself in an awkward situation as a result. Mr. Gastier, who waited in vain for Pierre in his office, returns home and when he finds Pierre there, becomes furious and throws him out of the house.
The young wife of Mr. Guiton, Clarisse, tries to seduce Pierre in a greenhouse
Greenhouse
A greenhouse is a building in which plants are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to very large buildings...
, but it results in another amusing incident - when Pierre is undressing Clarisse, her long hair gets stuck in her zipper
Zipper
A zipper is a commonly used device for temporarily joining two edges of fabric...
, and to her horror, he cuts off her hair with pruning scissors.
Guiton allocates him in a small office on a ground floor, full of cages with parrot
Parrot
Parrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...
s and without proper furniture, in an effort to hold him away from agency business and to spite him. But even here Pierre finds amusement for himself. Soon he gets the first client - a manufacturer of toothpaste
Toothpaste
Toothpaste is a paste or gel dentifrice used with a toothbrush as an accessory to clean and maintain the aesthetics and health of teeth. Toothpaste is used to promote oral hygiene: it serves as an abrasive that aids in removing the dental plaque and food from the teeth, assists in suppressing...
"Klerdene", eccentric and even more absent-minded than Pierre himself. While strolling with Lisa he gets an idea of street advertising of the toothpaste. The scenario is the following: a beautiful blonde walks down the street and all of a sudden faints. She gets surrounded by passers-by who start arguing about how to help her. A handsome young man appears and gives her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. She comes to her senses right away and asks rapturously: "Klerdene?" to which he responds affirmatively, and she says that "it is impossible to forget". Then the advertising slogan
Slogan
A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a political, commercial, religious and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose. The word slogan is derived from slogorn which was an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic sluagh-ghairm . Slogans vary from the written and the...
is pronounced. Eventually this campaign
Advertising campaign
An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication...
results in a fight between people for the right to give the woman mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and in a media scandal.
Pierre's next project was a street advertising of bags for plastic packets (!), which included smashing eggs
Egg (food)
Eggs are laid by females of many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and have probably been eaten by mankind for millennia. Bird and reptile eggs consist of a protective eggshell, albumen , and vitellus , contained within various thin membranes...
on people's heads and also resulted in a large-scale brawl and scandal.
Mr. Guiton still puts up with Pierre's wild escapades, in the minutes of anger soothing himself by remembering romantic moments with Malaquet's mother. But he runs out of patience after the next incident. Pierre makes an even more shocking commercial, believing that it will be a big success, but Lisa, understanding that it oversteps all limits already, convinces him to give it up. However, the videotape with the commercial gets to television by mistake and is broadcasted. It stirs up a huge scandal. Enraged TV viewers gather around the agency's building to express protest. Guiton understands that it may ruin agency's reputation. At the extraordinary meeting of the agency's management with the clients he finally decides to fire Malaquet. It upsets Lisa and she goes searching for Pierre. Meanwhile Pierre, who is attacked by angry marchers on his way to the office, sees a girl in a bath
Bathtub
A bath , bathtub , or tub is a large container for holding water in which a person may bathe . Most modern bathtubs are made of acrylic or fiberglass, but alternatives are available in enamel over steel or cast iron, and occasionally waterproof finished wood...
in a big advertising poster. He imagines Lisa on her place and suddenly realizes that he is in love with Lisa. Beside himself in delight, he starts searching around for Lisa, as always getting into funny situations. At this time Lisa arrives at his apartment but doesn't find him there. Eventually Pierre finds her in his apartment taking a bath, and emotionally declares his love to her.
Pierre's mother convinces Guiton to give her son another chance. He decides to send him along with Lisa to work at the agency's office in the US. On board of the plane
Fixed-wing aircraft
A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...
, right before takeoff, Pierre goes searching for lavatory and somehow gets out of the plane, which takes off without him. Confused Pierre runs after the plane, a narrator recites the passage from "Caractères" by Jean de La Bruyère
Jean de La Bruyère
Jean de La Bruyère was a French essayist and moralist.-Ancestry:He was born in Paris, not, as was once thought, at Dourdan in 1645...
, and the film ends.
Soundtrack
- Le distrait (2:07)
- Récéption chez les Gastier (3:44)
- Étourderies (0:51)
- Promenade dans les champs (2:02)
- Bravo Plistax (1:03)
- Pierre et Lisa (1:38)
- Bizarre, tout est normal (2:31)
- Gazou, gazou (1:10)
- Le distrait - final (1:50)
Cast
- Pierre RichardPierre RichardPierre Richard is a popular French actor best known for the roles of a clumsy daydreamer in comedy films...
— Pierre Malaquet - Marie-Christine BarraultMarie-Christine BarraultMarie-Christine Barrault is a French actress, who has appeared in 45 films and numerous television productions.Born in Paris, she got her start on television, in L'Œuvre, in 1967 and in the series Que ferait donc Faber? Her film debut was in 1969 in My Night at Maud's in 1969.In 1970 Barrault...
— Lisa Gastier - Bernard BlierBernard BlierBernard Blier was a French character actor. His rotund features and premature baldness allowed him to often play cuckolded husbands in his early career. He proved to be one of France's most versatile and sought-after character actors, performing interchangeably in comedies and dramas...
— Alexandre Guiton - Maria Pacôme — Glycia Malaquet
- Catherine SamieCatherine SamieCatherine Samie is French actress and member of Comédie-Française from 1962. On July 14, 2011, she became Grand Officier of the Legion of Honor...
— Clarisse Guiton - Micheline Luccioni — Mme Gastier
- Paul PréboistPaul PréboistPaul Préboist was a French actor.He made his film debut in Cresus . Appeared in more than hundred films, mostly in supporting roles, and is best known as a comic actor.-Selected filmography:* Il y a des jours.....
— Mr. Klerdène - Robert Dalban — Mazelin
- Romain Bouteille — Corbel
- Claude Evrard — Figuier
- Jacques Monod — Mr. Malaquet
- François Maistre — Mr. Gastier
- Anne-Marie Blot — Véronique Gastier
- Blanche Brondy — the woman who falls
- Fanny Gaillard — France
- Robert Renaudin — The Plistax representative
- Yves RobertYves RobertYves Robert was a French actor, screenwriter, director, and producer.Born in Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, in his teens Robert went to Paris to pursue a career in acting, starting with unpaid parts on stage in the city's various theatre workshops. To support himself, he worked at a variety of jobs...
— Pierre's neighbor
Release history
| Country | Release date |
|---|---|
| France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... |
December 1970 |
| Finland Finland Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside... |
18 August 1972 |
| West Germany West Germany West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990.... |
August 1974 |
External links
- Film Photogallery
- Trailer at the GaumontGaumont Film CompanyGaumont Film Company is a French film production company founded in 1895 by the engineer-turned-inventor, Léon Gaumont . Gaumont is the oldest continously operating film company in the world....
site (requires QuickTimeQuickTimeQuickTime is an extensible proprietary multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. The classic version of QuickTime is available for Windows XP and later, as well as Mac OS X Leopard and...
Player) - Le Distrait overview at nytimes.com