The Intouchables (2011) Analysis - Case study - Poverty, Class, Ethnicity

The Intouchables is a French film both directed and written by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano. This film was released in 2011 which had been produced by Quad Productions, Ten Films and Canal +. The Intouchables production budget was consisted of an estimated amount of €9,500,000 and which it had grossed at a huge profit of $13,179,837, however only in the USA alone. The themes that were explored in this film are themes of hope, courage, joy, trust and most importantly; friendship. This film had been critically acclaimed in France when it had been released to cinema's, however outside of France, for example England where most of film's audience prefers America Hollywood style films, films that aren't foreign to their own language, wouldn't perform so well. However despite this, the film managed to make $426.6 million dollars worldwide at the box office.

Throughout the narrative of the film, the director/writer had employed a circular narrative into the script and film making process. The narrative of the film follows a black male by the name of 'Driss' who has not much going for him in his life, living off benefits in order to get by in life, jobless. This is until he comes across a quadriplegic millionaire who's interviewing potential candidates for a job position which involves taking care of his personal needs. Driss needs a document signed by an individual from Social Security in order for the government to approve his benefits. This is when the turning point in both the film's narrative and both protagonists lives takes a positive turn. A key scene in this scene of the film when Driss is waiting for a chance to be interviewed, Driss is sitting down waiting along with other men of French descent who are indeed of White ethinic origin. A pan shot is used before showing this visual information, presenting a shot of all of the men's legs and feet in suits until the camera finally stops at Driss, who is wearing trainers and baggy jeans. Then after the audience is presented with a long shot of all the men sitting down, Driss being the only black man there.

This key scene is meant to show the stereotype of how black people are uneducated and useless to soceity, which is significantly shown through the disappointment on all of the white peoples face when glancing at Driss and when Driss barges into the interview room after becoming tired of waiting and demands his document to be signed in order to achieve free benefits. This stereotype that the director is trying to show through Driss' character is how black people are reckless, live off of societies efforts, temperamental; essentially wild like an animal. However throughout this film the protagonist proceeds to defy this stereotype, when the protagonist Driss actually shows compassion and care to his best friend Philippe. The message through the technical codes that Olivier and Eric want to convey is that you should not judge a man based on the colour of his skin and through the stereotypes society places on an ethnic group.

Another key scene is at the beginning of the film when the two protagonists Driss and Philippe are in a luxury black car, speeding through traffic for pleasure purposes. What's notable from this scene is that the audience is tricked into believing that the genre of this film is of Action and that the themes would be based on Crime as they're committing a crime by breaking the speeding limit as police are after them. However the audience is only fooled as this is the first scene where the film begins as the narrative structure is part of a circular narrative. Another point to make is the representation of disability and age in this scene. In society, disabled and elderly people are often seen as always tired and lonely at home, unable to enjoy their lives simply because of the incapacitates that they have to endure which comes with age and disability. However Philippe's character goes against this negative representation of diasbled/elderly people. We can understand this from how he acts as if he's having a fit as an excuse for Driss to speed when confronted by the French police, when really he faked it in order to have fun driving fast. There is also various other key scenes which goes against this representation too such as Philippe going parachuting while in a wheelchair, which goes to show how some disabled people can have fun and enjoy life despite the unfortunate disabilities that one individual might have.

Themes of poverty are also touched upon in this film as from the scene where Driss is taking a bath while simultaneously the other kids in his household are brushing their teeth in the same bathroom. While the kids do this, Driss is complaining about them using the water while he's using the shower in the bath. From this performance alone we can understand the struggles lower class people have to live by, compared to Philippe living in a rich mansion, he himself has to undergo similar struggles of living (because of his disability) despite the clear boundary of Driss' lower class status and Philippe's upper class status and wealth.

To conclude, the director and writer intended to create this film in order to convery a serious message through the film's narrative and technical codes used to create the film. The messages that Oliver Nakache and Eric Toledano conveyed was no matter the circumstances which you're born from, no matter what disability you have, no matter who you are you can still achieve positive things and enjoy your life.