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Thursday, April 25, 2024
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HOLLYWOOD THE INTOUCHABLES
EDITOR'S PICK
`The
Intouchables` - a must touch and feel
Rating: ****
What comes to mind when you think disability? Sadness, pity and charity? And
what comes to mind when you think disability films? Same? If that`s the case,
The Intouchables, a story of a man paralysed from the neck down and
his helper, will surprise you with its wit, humour, fun and zest for life.
Driss (Omar Sy) goes for an interview as a helper for a paraplegic person only
to get unemployment benefits. His acerbic frankness wins the heart of the
disabled person Philippe (Francois Cluzet), who hires him against better advice.
The two form an unlikely pair - one physically disabled, the other socially; one
morose, the other full of life; one with the money to do everything but not the
limbs, the other with the limbs and life, but no money or social standing; one
white, the other black.
As they touch each other`s life in a fun, poignant manner, they change forever,
becoming more the men than they ever thought possible.
The two things that will win your heart in the film is its witty humour and the
chemistry of the lead pair. Rarely in cinema have two actors been so different
and yet their pairing been so perfect, and their timing so immaculate.
Omar Sy as the black man from a Parisian ghetto is a revelation, while veteran
actor Francois Cluzet delivers a punchy performance.
The Intouchables is a very important film in the history of cinema,
because it is one of the rare instances where a film about a person with
disability does not rely on pathos, melodrama and pity.
The writer-director pair of Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano handle this true
story of an actual odd couple with a dignity, sensitivity and humour rare in
cinema.
It becomes an important film because it explores a hitherto rarely explored
dimension of disability - the life and living of people with disability and not
their sadness. Yes it is sad they are disabled, but it is in no way pathetic and
no way does it mean that life ends where disability begins.
Indeed, many disabled people claim today - to the utter surprise and horror of
`normal` people - that for many of them life actually began after their
disability.
Thus showing that the most precious commodity in life is not necessarily the use
of limbs, but a positive frame of mind, friends and laughter, it becomes a
great, funny, poignant and uplifting film. Don`t miss it for the world.
