French Fried Vacation

A comedy centered on one week's group of tourists and the staff at a French holiday resort in Africa. Includes plenty of hijinks and sleeping around, but basically fluff.

Very little is seen of the Africans, props in the movie as in the holiday camp.

Most of the reviews have already explained much of the plot, story, etc... so I'll take this in another direction: what its really all about.

While "Les Bronzés" is a comedy, much of it is based on real-life situations that actually happen and what goes on in these vacation villages. I know because not only did I grow up in France and understand their psyche, but I worked for the company parodied for a while.

From the attitude of the GOs, to the naiveté of the GMs, the goofy activities in the village to the sleeping arrangements - the nightly banquets to the evening shows - pretty much everything is portrayed spot on. And *that's* what makes the movie really funny. This movie is a classic in France.

Some of the humor will be lost in translation, however, the subtitles are pretty close to conveying the jist of humor when they cannot be accurately translated. It's a must see for any francophile looking for a good laugh. And if you liked this one, Thierry Lhermite is also in "Le Diner des Cons", which was just remade in Hollyweird as "The Dinner Game".

This movie is a myth, a classic for the French young generation. If you meet a French girl or guy and try to make contact with him or her, you can be sure that a little quote from "Les Bronzés" will start a passionate conversation.

Nevertheless, you must have a very good knowledge of the French language because of all the jokes and puns; if it's not the case this movie may appear as a very "unfunny" comedy.

You must know that there's a sequel, "les Bronzés font du ski", which has had a great audience success (it's on French TV once a semester and I am not kidding) but which appears to be less funny (less puns). However, it seems to be even more mythical that the first opus.

I can't remember how many times I watched this movie, at least a dozen times and it never gets old. The second French Fried Vacation (what a stupid translation in English) is even better. In Les Bronzés the crew of Le Splendid (consisting of the major part of the lead actors) brought their acting talents to the screen instead of the scene. They know each other very good and that shows on screen. Each character is funny in its way, from the guy that wants to but never gets late (played by Michel Blanc), my favourite, to the fighting married couple (played by Gerard Jugnot and Josiane Balasko), to the macho of the gang (played by Thierry Lhermitte), and of course Christian Clavier with his legendary Speedo showing pubes. All amazingly popular French actors, that became very successful over the years with some very funny comedies. I can't believe this movie is already 45 years old, it certainly aged very well. If you never watched it I recommend you do, and if possible watch the second one as well (Les Bronzés font du Ski) as that one is even better.

There are two sides to this movie: superficially it is an unspectacular comedy about a group of tourists spending their two weeks at a Club Med resort somewhere in Africa, or the West Indies or wherever. There is the underlying promise of sexual adventures, but they only materialise for the bored, toned and bronzed club entertainers, not the balding and paunchy guests.

Like an iceberg, the more important part of this movie is invisible, and lies in the incredibly fast-paced dialogues. It's French quipping at its best, and if you only so much as bat an eye you'll miss it. For this reason the French love this movie, and the rest of the world wonders what they're on about (this type of humour doesn't translate well or even at all). I saw an original French version without subtitles, and have to admit that most of it was too fast for me.

For this reason: if you're French -- you probably have seen this movie, and possibly even on this very day. If you're not French, you won't understand a dicky bird. This review is so pointless.