Santa Claus is a Stinker (French: Le père Noël est une ordure, lit. 'Father Christmas is a scumbag', or 'Father Christmas is a shit')[2] is a French comedy play created in 1979 by the troupe Le Splendid and turned into a film directed by Jean-Marie Poiré in 1982.[3]
| Santa Claus is a Stinker | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Jean-Marie Poiré |
| Produced by | Yves Rousset-Rouard |
| Starring | Anémone Josiane Balasko Marie-Anne Chazel Christian Clavier Gérard Jugnot Thierry Lhermitte Bruno Moynot |
| Cinematography | Robert Alazraki |
| Edited by | Catherine Kelber |
| Music by | Vladimir Cosma |
Production companies |
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Release date |
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Running time | 87 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
| Box office | $10.3 million[1] |
Plot
editPierre, a stuffy and self-righteous volunteer at a telephone helpline for depressed people, and his well-meaning but naïve co-worker Thérèse, are stuck with the Christmas Eve shift in the Paris office, much to their displeasure.
The building's lift is malfunctioning, and they receive visits from unwanted callers: Katia, a depressed transvestite who tries to hit on Pierre; M. Preskovitch who lives in the same building and always turns up unexpectedly to offer them various unappetizing pastries; and Josette, a heavily pregnant woman on the run from her violent fiancé Félix who is trying to get her to come back home to cook the Christmas Eve dinner. However, what was supposed to be a calm working evening, quickly turns sour.
The origin of the doubitchous
edit
The pastries used in the film are a creation of Josiane Balasko who had travelled to Osijek, in Croatia, the birthplace of her father. During her stay the actress discovered funny local specialties which gave her the inspiration of the doubitchous of the film.[4][5]
The painting used in the film
editThe painting depicting Thérèse with a pig used in the film is different from the one used for theatre version of Le père Noël est une ordure. Two different artists have painted the two pieces: Bernard de Desnoyers and Christoff Debusschere.[6][7]
Today the painting that was used to shoot the film is in the hands of its author, Bernard de Desnoyers, who has kept the work.[8][9]
English (US) remake of the film
editIn 1994 the basic plot was used by writer/director Nora Ephron to develop the US film Mixed Nuts.[10]
Cast
edit- Anémone as Thérèse
- Thierry Lhermitte as Pierre Mortez
- Marie-Anne Chazel as Josette
- Gérard Jugnot as Félix
- Christian Clavier as Katia
- Josiane Balasko as Madame Musquin
- Bruno Moynot as Preskovitch
- Jacques François as The Pharmacist
- Martin Lamotte as Monsieur Leblé
- Michel Blanc (voice only) as an obscene crank caller
References
edit- ^ "Le père noel est une ordure". www.jpbox-office.com. 1982.
- ^ "Very droll". The Economist.
- ^ "Le Père Noël est une ordure". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
- ^ "16 choses que vous ignorez encore sur Le père Noël est une ordure". www.vanityfair.fr. 22 December 2016.
- ^ "Le père-noël est une ordure, images des coulisses et secrets de tournage par Nath-Didile". lescopainsd-abord.over-blog.com. 7 November 2013.
- ^ Interview du peintre E. Bardolle, élève de l'école d'Etampes.
- ^ Hervé. "Le Père noël est une ordure". Le fabuleux destin de Jack Pot.
- ^ http://lescopainsd-abord.over-blog.com/article-the-father-christmas-is-a-junk-pictures-of-wings-and-secrets-of-film-by-nath-didile-121008354.html [dead link]
- ^ "Le Père Noël est une ordure: 5 choses que vous ne saviez peut-être pas sur le film". www.terrafemina.com.
- ^ "Mixed Nuts". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
External links
edit- Santa Claus is a Stinker at IMDb
- Le Splendid, official site (in French)
- France 2 (formerly Films A2) (in French)
- Mixed Nuts at IMDb
- Santa Claus is a Stinker on Wikiquote (in French)