The Intouchables (, ), also known as Untouchable in the UK, Ireland, and Scandinavia, and 1+1 in Eastern Europe, is a 2011 French buddy comedy-drama film written and directed by Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache. It stars François Cluzet and Omar Sy. The plot of the film is inspired by the true story of Philippe Pozzo di Borgo and his French-Algerian carer Abdel Sellou, discovered by the directors in À la vie, à la mort, a documentary film.
Nine weeks after its release in France on 2 November 2011, it became the second highest-grossing French film in France, after the 2008 film Welcome to the Sticks. The film was voted the cultural event of 2011 in France with 52% of votes in a poll by Fnac. Until it was eclipsed in 2014 by Lucy, it was the most-viewed French film in the world with 51.5 million tickets sold.
The film received positive reviews and several award nominations. In France, the film won the César Award for Best Actor for Sy and garnered seven further nominations for the César Awards, including the César Award for Best Actor for Cluzet. Five percent of the film's profits were donated to Simon de Cyrène, an association that helps paralyzed people.
Plot At night in Paris, Driss is driving Philippe's Maserati Quattroporte at high speed. Chased through the streets by the police, they are eventually cornered. Driss claims the quadriplegic Philippe must get to a hospital urgently; Philippe pretends to have a seizure and the fooled police officers escort them. After arriving at the hospital, Driss drives away.
The story of friendship between the two men is then told as a flashback: Philippe, a wealthy quadriplegic owner of a luxurious hôtel particulier, and his assistant Magalie are interviewing potential live-in caregivers. Driss has no ambitions to get hired; he is only waiting to get a signature on a document proving his interview was rejected, to continue receiving his benefits. He is told to return the next morning to collect his signed document.
The next day when Driss returns, Philippe's aide Yvonne greets him, telling him he has the job on a trial basis. Despite being uninterested and inexperienced, he does well caring for Philippe, albeit using unconventional methods. Driss learns the extent of his employer's disability, aiding Philippe in every aspect of his life. A friend of Philippe's reveals that Driss was imprisoned for six months for robbery, but Philippe disregards the warnings, stating he does not care about Driss' past. As Driss is the only one who does not treat Philippe with pity, he will not fire Driss as long as he does his job properly.
Philippe explains his disability resulted from a paragliding incident and that his wife died without bearing children. Gradually, Driss helps him to organise his private life, despite having problems with his adopted daughter Elisa. Driss discovers modern art, opera and starts painting. For Philippe's birthday, a private classical music concert is performed in his living room. Driss later finds Elisa in her room and discovers she had taken pills because her boyfriend dumped on her, she asks Driss to talk to him in exchange for money. Philippe educates Driss on famous classical pieces, but Driss only recognises them as advert music or cartoon themes. Feeling the concert is too boring, Driss plays Earth, Wind & Fire's "Boogie Wonderland", livening up the party, with the guests also enjoying the music.
Discovering Philippe has a purely epistolary relationship with a woman called Eléonore who lives in Dunkirk, Driss encourages his employer to meet her, but Philippe fears her reaction when she discovers his disability. Driss persuades him to talk to her by phone. Philippe agrees to send a photo of himself in a wheelchair to her, but he hesitates and asks his aide, Yvonne, to send a picture as he was before his accident. A date between them is agreed to, but Philippe is too scared to meet Eléonore at the last minute and leaves with Yvonne before she arrives. Philippe then calls Driss, inviting him to fly with him in his Dassault Falcon 900 private jet for a paragliding weekend in the Alps.
Driss's cousin, Adama, in trouble with a gang, comes to fetch Driss at the mansion on the pretext of delivering mail. Overhearing, Philippe recognizes Driss's need to be supportive to his family and releases him from his job, suggesting he may not want to push a wheelchair all his life.
Driss returns home, joins his friends and manages to help his cousin. In the meantime new carers have replaced Driss but Philippe is not happy with any of them. His morale is very low and he stops taking care of himself. He grows a beard and looks ill. Worried, Yvonne calls Driss back.
Upon arrival Driss drives Philippe in the Maserati, which brings the story back to the initial police chase. After they elude the police, Driss takes Philippe to the seaside. Once Philippe has shaved and dressed, they arrive at a Cabourg restaurant on the sea front. Driss suddenly leaves the table, saying good luck to Philippe on his lunch date. A few seconds later Eléonore arrives. Emotionally touched, Philippe looks through the window and sees Driss outside, smiling at him. Driss bids Philippe farewell and walks away as Phillipe and Eléonore chat and enjoy each other's company.
The film ends with shots of Philippe Pozzo di Borgo and Abdel Sellou, the people on whom the story is based, together on a hillside, reminiscent of the paragliding scene earlier in the film. The closing caption states that the men remain close friends to this day.
Cast
Soundtrack
Ludovico Einaudi – "Fly" (3:20) Earth, Wind & Fire – "September" (3:33) Omar Sy, François Cluzet & Audrey Fleurot – "Des références..." (1:08) Ludovico Einaudi – "Writing Poems" (4:09) George Benson – "The Ghetto" (4:57) Omar Sy & François Cluzet – "L'arbre qui chante" (1:01) Terry Callier – "You're Goin' Miss Your Candyman" (7:18) François Cluzet & Omar Sy – "Blind Test" (2:21) Earth, Wind & Fire with The Emotions – "Boogie Wonderland" (4:45) Ludovico Einaudi – "L'origine nascosta" (3:12) Nina Simone – "Feeling Good" (2:53) Ludovico Einaudi – "Cache-cache" (3:51) Angelicum De Milan – "Vivaldi: Concerto pour 2 violons & Orchestra" (3:21) Ludovico Einaudi – "Una mattina" (6:41)
Reception Box office After four weeks, by 25 November 2011, The Intouchables had already become the most-watched film in France in 2011. After sixteen weeks, more than 19 million people had seen the film in France. On 10 January 2012, The Intouchables set a record, having been number one for ten consecutive weeks since its release in France. The film has grossed $166 million in France and $444.7 million worldwide as of 12 May 2013.
On 20 March 2012, The Intouchables broke the record for the highest-grossing French film, surpassing The Fifth Element ($263.9 million). In July 2012, it became the top grossing foreign language film of 2012 in North America, surpassing A Separation.
The film was also a commercial success in several other European countries, topping charts in Germany for nine consecutive weeks, Switzerland for eleven weeks, Austria for six weeks, Poland for three weeks, and Italy, Spain and Belgium for one week, as of 20 May 2012. With more than 30 million tickets sold outside France it is the most successful French film shot in French since at least 1994. In the United States, it is the fourth highest-grossing French-language film since 1980. In Germany, it is the most successful French film shot in any language since at least 1968. In Italy, it is the most successful French film shot in French since at least 1997. In Spain, it is the second most successful French film shot in French since at least 1994 behind Asterix & Obelix Take on Caesar (3.7 million admissions) released in 1999. In South Korea, it is the most successful French film shot in French since at least 1994. In Switzerland, it is the most successful French film shot in any language and the second most successful film from any nationalities behind Titanic, since at least 1995. In Belgium, it is the second most successful French film shot in any language since at least 1996 behind Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis ( admissions). In Austria, it is the most successful French film shot in any language since at least 1994. In the Netherlands, it is the most successful French film shot in any language since at least 1994. In Poland, it is the fourth most successful French film shot in French since at least 1998 behind Amélie (758,201 admissions), Asterix at the Olympic Games (685,800 admissions) and Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra (680,010 admissions). In Israel, it is the most successful French film shot in French since at least 2002.orange | מדברים אליהם (שלושה עדכונים) | סינמסקופ In Canada (French), it is the fourth most successful French film shot in French since 1 January 2000 (as of 29 March 2012) behind Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra (651,582 admissions), Amélie (569,523 tickets) and The Chorus (364,052 tickets sold). In Portugal, with 146,000 tickets sold in 5 weeks, it is the 6th most successful French film shot in French since at least 1994. In Japan, it is the most successful French film ever.
Rank Country Tickets sold1 France Intouchables, 2011 Sur le site kinopoisk.ruJP's Box-Office : Fiche -Intouchables suivi at jpbox-office.com2 Germany Ziemlich best freund on the website kino.deAdmissions in Germany according to this Russian website On the website kinopoisk.ruIntouchables : plus gros succès français en Allemagne Sur le site elle.frInsidekino.de Fiche Bilan Box-Office Allemagne 2012 Sur le site insidekino.de3 Spain 4 Italy QUASI AMICI (INTOUCHABLES) Sur le site cinetel.itcinetel.it consulté le 09 avril 20125 South Korea 6 Switzerland Nombre d'entrées Sur le site insidekino.deintouchable Sur le site procinema.ch7 Japan 8 United States / Canada 9 Netherlands 10 Belgium / Luxembourg Classement des films français – 2011 – Belgique On unifrance.org websiteCiné-chiffres internationaux et diffusions TV On unifrance.org website11 Brazil 12 Austria Ziemlich beste Freunde No1 Sur le site cineplexx.at, consulté le 29 Mars 2012 Top 10 der letzten Woche Sur le site tvheute.at – consulté le 29 Mars 2012 Top 10 der letzten Woche Sur le site kino.diepresse.com – consulté le 06 Avril 201213 Denmark 14 Poland 15 Israel orange | מחוברים לחיים | סינמסקופ Fréquentation record pour Intouchables, déjà 144 804 spectateurs consulté le 04 Mai 201216 Canada (French) 17 Portugal Box-office Portugal WE du 17 au 20 mai : Intouchables maintient le cap pour sa 8ème semaine Sur le site boxofficeintouchables.unblog.fr18 Russia (CIS) 19 Greece 20 Taiwan @movies【開眼電影】 www.atmovies.com.tw 21 Colombia 22 Hong Kong 23 Hungary (Budapest) odeon.hu Box-office de Budapest au 29 février 2012 consulté le 23 Avril 201224 Finland 25 Peru 26 Czech Republic 27 Turkey 28 Croatia 29 Romania 30 Lebanon 31 Slovenia 32 Serbia / Montenegro 33 Bulgaria 34 Ukraine35 Lithuania Total outside France Worldwide total Worldwide gross $The Intouchables on the site boxofficemojo.com, accessed 27 September 2012
Critical response The film received mostly positive reviews from critics and holds a 75% approval rating at the film review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes, based on 122 reviews, and an average score of 6.7/10. The consensus states, "It handles its potentially prickly subject matter with kid gloves, but Intouchables gets by thanks to its strong cast and some remarkably sensitive direction." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 57 out of 100, based on 31 ratings of professional critics. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
Critical response in the UK