Intouchables

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Already breaking box office records as the second highest grossing non-English language film ever (behind The Passion of the Christ), Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano's Intouchables has become a worldwide sensation. Nominated for nine César Awards (France's equivalent to the Academy Awards), and winning Best Actor for Omar Sy -- beating The Artist's Jean Dujardin -- Intouchables tells the story of the improbable friendship between Philippe (François Cluzet, Little White Lies, Tell No One) a wealthy quadriplegic, and Driss (Sy, Micmacs), a young offender of Senegalese descent, who is hired as his live-in caregiver. A widower, Philippe lives with his teenage daughter in a luxurious Paris apartment. When a paragliding accident leaves him paralyzed from the neck down, Philippe requires a caregiver to assist him with his daily physical needs. With the help of his assistant Magalie (Audrey Fleurot, The Women on the Sixth Floor) he interviews a number of highly qualified candidates, all of whom he subsequently rejects in favour of Driss, a recently released ex-con who has only applied for the job to ensure he keeps getting welfare payments. Charmed by Driss's brash self-confidence and sometimes brutal straightforwardness, the jaded Philippe finds the young man’s lack of pity precisely what he wants in a caregiver. Thus begins an unlikely pairing, one of which will change both their lives in a remarkable ways. Propelled by Sy's charismatic performance, Intouchables is well-executed and thoroughly enjoyable culture-clash comedy about a friendship that transcends the social and economic divide. Based on a true story, writer-directors Nakache and Toledano add just enough real-life seriousness to anchor their narrative, but this simple yet elegant film never loses its sense of humour.

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