Wikipedia

I Am Not an Easy Man

I Am Not an Easy Man (French: Je ne suis pas un homme facile) is a 2018 French romantic comedy film written and directed by Éléonore Pourriat. The film stars Vincent Elbaz as a chauvinist who ends up in a parallel universe where stereotypical gender roles are reversed. The film was released on 13 April 2018 on Netflix.[1] It is the second French-language Netflix original film (after Blockbuster)[2] and the first French-language film commissioned by Netflix.[3]

I Am Not an Easy Man
Official release poster
FrenchJe ne suis pas un homme facile
Directed byÉléonore Pourriat
Written by
  • Éléonore Pourriat
  • Ariane Fert[a]
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyPénélope Pourriat
Edited byÉlise Fievet
Music byFred Avril
Production
companies
  • Autopilot Entertainment
  • Film Invaders
  • LOVEMYTV
  • MademoiselleFilms
Distributed byNetflix
Release date
  • 13 April 2018 (2018-04-13)
Running time
98 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench

Synopsis

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Damien is a shameless chauvinist who has all the benefits of living in a patriarchal society. After a bump to the head, Damien passes out. When he wakes up, he finds himself in what seems to be an alternate universe where gender roles are reversed and women have the power. Damien feels confused: now that he experiences sexism he struggles to find his place in this foreign new world. He meets and seduces Alexandra, an influential novelist who is herself a chauvinist.[3]

Cast

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  • Vincent Elbaz as Damien
  • Marie-Sophie Ferdane as Alexandra
  • Pierre Bénézit as Christophe
  • Blanche Gardin as Sybille
  • Céline Menville as Lolo
  • Christele Tual as Annie
  • Moon Dailly as Alexandra's coach
  • Camille Landru-Girardet as Ludovic

Production

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The film finds its origins in Oppressed Majority (French: Majorité opprimée), a 2010 short film directed by Pourriat, about a stay-at-home dad who experiences sexism in a parallel, female-dominated world, and eventually becomes the victim of sexual assault.[3][4] In 2014, after being released on video-sharing platform YouTube with English-language subtitles, the short garnered international attention[4] and Pourriat was approached by Netflix to develop a new, larger project based on the initial premise. Pourriat initially wanted to make a series, but she eventually reached an agreement with Netflix to produce a feature-length romantic comedy with the help of producers Eleonore Dailly and Edouard de Lachomette.[3]

The film premiered on Netflix on 13 April 2018. In accordance with French laws on digital film distribution, the film was not scheduled for theatrical release in France, in order to be immediately available online.[5] Pierre Bénézit, the lead actor in Oppressed Majority, played the supporting character Christophe in I Am Not an Easy Man.[4]

Reception

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Étienne Sorin of Le Figaro deplored the film as an "uneven comedy" and conventional.[6] For her part, Arièle Bonte, on RTL, advises the vision of the film for, in particular, the disturbing subject likely to change mentalities and the “amazing” quality of the interpretation of Marie-Sophie Ferdane.[7]


Remake

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In October 2024, Netflix announced an English-language remake of the film titled Ladies First to be directed by Thea Sharrock from a script written by Katie Silberman, Natalie Krinsky, and Cinco Paul, with Sacha Baron Cohen and Rosamund Pike starring in the lead roles.[8]

Notes

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  1. ^ Collaboration

References

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  1. ^ "Je ne suis pas un homme facile (2018) - Netflix". Netflix.
  2. ^ Durand, Corentin (1 April 2018). "Je ne suis pas un homme facile, Kodachrome, Dude : quels nouveaux films sur Netflix en avril 2018 ?". Numerama (in French). Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d "Production ciné-TV soutenue : " Je ne suis pas un homme facile " sur Netflix". iledefrance.fr (in French). 12 April 2018. Archived from the original on 9 May 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  4. ^ a b c Lichfield, John (11 February 2014). "'Majorité Opprimée': It's a woman's world". The Independent. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  5. ^ Tounsi, Chaïma (13 April 2018). "Je ne suis pas un homme facile sur Netflix : "Mon film rend visible le sexisme ordinaire, celui qu'on ne voit pas" selon la réalisatrice". Allociné (in French). Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  6. ^ Étienne Sorin. Avec Je ne suis pas un homme facile, Vincent Elbaz balance les porcs. Le Figaro, 13 avril 2018. Lire en ligne
  7. ^ Arièle Bonte. "Je ne suis pas un homme facile" : 4 raisons de voir ce film sur Netflix. RTL, 5 mai 2018. Lire en ligne
  8. ^ Grobar, Mike Fleming Jr,Matt (9 October 2024). "Sacha Baron Cohen, Rosamund Pike Set To Star For Netflix In Thea Sharrock-Helmed 'Ladies First'". Deadline.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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