The disability comedy besting blockbusters in France / Photo: LOIC VENANCE - AFP/File
-
India seeks threefold increase in coal stocks to prevent summer power shortages
-
Indian companies report mixed second-quarter results on November 4
-
Indus Towers expands solar-powered network to 50,000 telecom sites
-
KKR secures Indian regulator approval for Gentari Renewables investment
-
Equitas Small Finance Bank rebounds after naming interim chief executive
-
Bharti Airtel revenue expected to grow at double-digit pace in second quarter
-
Titan quarterly profit seen rising as jewellery business drives growth
-
Indian crude-sensitive shares gain after 13% oil-price decline
-
Kuwait finance minister holds economic cooperation talks at COMCEC
-
Stocks and dollar fall as Democratic election gains reshape markets
-
Kuwait marks key events and anniversaries from national history
-
Qatar Tourism joins Pacific Asia Travel Association at London travel market
-
Qatar media bodies discuss support for humanitarian initiatives
-
Pitches and Keynote Speakers Are Confirmed for Blue Magic Netherlands on November 17
The disability comedy besting blockbusters in France
A low-budget French comedy about a camp for disabled people has become a "societal phenomenon" in France, trouncing Hollywood blockbusters like "Dune 2" and Mad Max spin-off "Furiosa".
"A Little Something Extra" has sold 5.8 million tickets as the latest box office numbers were released on Wednesday.
It is the latest example of a film to become a massive hit outside Paris, where snobbier cinephiles tend to ignore broad comedies in favour of arthouse chin-strokers.
But five weeks after its release, even Parisians are now flocking to see the light-hearted tale about a bank robber who pretends to be disabled to hide out in a holiday camp.
Each week it has easily bested new Hollywood releases, including "The Fall Guy" and "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" with budgets many times its own 6.2 million euros.
Experts say "A Little Something Extra", starring and directed by stand-up comedian Artus (who goes by a single name) has struck a chord at a time when the country is embroiled in a bitter European election campaign.
"We're in a moment in France where the political atmosphere is highly charged and people are looking for something to bring them back together," Eric Marti, of box office analysts Comscore, told AFP.
Describing it as a "societal phenomenon", he said the film, which features several actors with disabilities, was inclusive without the increasingly unpopular left-wing rhetoric about representation.
"It has a notion of inclusion -- but for real. It's not a lecture. It's simple, funny, moving and respectful," said Marti.
Some of the biggest successes of recent years in France have featured disability.
"La Famille Belier" was about a deaf family -- remade into the Oscar-winning "Coda" -- and remains the biggest such hit of the last decade, for now.
Even bigger was 2011's "The Intouchables" about a quadriplegic aristocrat and his live-in carer (played by "Lupin" star Omar Sy) that sold some 19.5 million tickets.
"A Little Something Extra" has benefitted from long-term investment in France's cinema, said Marti.
"But in all countries where cinemas have recovered from the pandemic... it's places where local films have worked well," he said.
"France maybe has a few more than most. It shows we aren't dependent on the latest American blockbuster."
Ng.A.Adebayo--CPN
