Les aventures de Rabbi Jacob (1973)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1973
	Director: Gérard Oury (La Grande Vadrouille, Le Corniaud)
	Actors: Louis de Funès (L'aile ou la Cuisse), Claude Giraud, Miou-Miou (Le Concert, Populaire), Claude Piéplu, Henri Guybet
	Country: F, I
	Genre: Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 15.08.2013, DVD, 32" TV
Synopsis: Mr Pivert (de Funès) is kidnapped by Slimane, himself chased by killers. They have to dress up like Rabbis and take refuge with a Jewish family.
Review: Holidays in France with my parents is synonym to nostalgy. I have laughted while watching this movie countless times when I was young, and I was curious to see how I would like it now. Well it is very different. The movie is filled with the slapstick humor and exagerated situations typical of Louis de Funès, and he plays them with all his energy as usual. I didn't really laugh, but it was pleasant to watch the movie again, even if just for the classic dance scene. What I missed when I was a kid is the political context (Arabs vs. Jews) and the extreme racism of character played by de Funès, telling sentences that one couldn't place in a movie today, even to make fun of them ("I don't mind them [Arabs] killing each other, the lesser they are the better, but they should do it in their own country"). It is clear for me now that the director criticizes this state of mind, but as it is the funny character of de Funès that embodies this spirit of our grand-grand-parents, I doubt that the audience at that time cought the subtelty of what the director tried to communicate.
Rating: 5 /10