''Les Visiteurs'' (; en, The Visitors) is a French fantasy comedy film directed by Jean-Marie Poiré and released in 1993. In this comedy, a 12th-century

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

and his

squire In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight. Use of the term evolved over time. Initially, a squire served as a knight's apprentice. Later, a village leader or a lord of the manor might come to be known as a ...

travel in time to the end of the 20th century and find themselves adrift in modern society. ''Les Visiteurs'' was the highest-grossing film in France in 1993 and remains the fourteenth highest grossing film in the country today. The publicity for the film used the tagline ''Ils ne sont pas nés d'hier'' ("They weren't born yesterday"). Reno and Clavier reprised their roles in a

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

in 1998, the American remake '' Just Visiting'' in 2001 and a second sequel in 2016. The Castle of Ermenonville, in

Oise Oise ( ; ; pcd, Oése) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,41 ...

département, served as decoration for the castle of Montmirail in the current time and the Cité de Carcassonne for medieval period.

Plot

In the year 1123, Godefroy Amaury de Malfête, Count of Apremont and Papincourt, saves the life of his beloved sovereign,

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Louis VI "Le Gros" (''"The Fat"'') from the sword of a "horribilis" Englishman. For this action of bravery, the King makes him

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

of Montmirail and promises him the woman he loves, the beautiful Frénégonde de Pouille. On his way to the castle to marry Frénégonde, Godefroy takes a witch prisoner, and she drugs his drinking flask. Hallucinating, he believes the

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

of Pouille, father of his future wife, is a ferocious bear, and kills him with a crossbow bolt. During the Duke's funeral, Frénégonde refuses to marry Godefroy because of the tragedy; meanwhile, Godefroy's servant, the disreputable Jacquouille la Fripouille, steals the Duke's jewels at end of the funeral. In an attempt to repair his mistake, Godefroy asks the wizard Eusebius to send him back in time to a moment before he shot the Duke. The old wizard muddles his magical spell, accidentally sending Godefroy and Jacquouille to the year 1992. There, they immediately run into trouble. Godefroy attacks a postman driving his car, mistaking him for a Moor in a devil's chariot; when he meets his descendant, Béatrice de Montmirail, an aristocrat who looks exactly like Frénégonde, she calls the Gendarmerie, who first imprison him, then as Béatrice thinks Godefroy is her distant cousin suffering from amnesia, take him to a mental hospital. Jacquouille, meanwhile, is befriended by Ginette la Clocharde ("Ginette the Tramp" in French), an attractive vagrant they meet early in their adventure. Béatrice, thinking Godefroy to be her long-lost stuntman cousin Hubert, gets Godefroy out of the mental hospital and takes them back to her home, much to her husband (who greatly dislikes the fact of the two being in their home) Jean-Pierre's dismay. There, various culture-shock comedy ensues as Godefroy and Jacquouille attempt to fathom modern household appliances, such as flooding the bathroom by leaving the tap open, using an umbrella as a pike to roast a leg of lamb and setting it on fire, washing their hands in the toilet, trashing the bathroom during their baths and wasting all of the family's 6,000 FF Chanel No. 5, greatly angering Jean-Pierre. Seeing the family seal on Godefroy's hand, Beatrice assumes he stole the jewel from the castle de Montmirail, now renovated into an expensive hotel. They go there and meet the owner of the castle, the effete Jacques-Henri Jacquard, the unwitting descendant and close likeness of Jacquouille (they react to each other with mutual disgust). The jewel on Godefroy's hand starts to burn as they get closer to the castle, where the present-day version of the seal is. The two seals explode and destroy Jacquard's brand new

Range Rover Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to ...

. Godefroy books a room for the night and reopens a secret passage known only to him. There he finds a letter telling him to go to a certain address, where an aged Monsieur Ferdinand, the last descendant of the wizard Eusebius, gives him the potion that will return him to the year 1123. Jacquouille, however, wants to stay, enjoying Ginette's company and having proved more adaptable than Godefroy in discovering toothpaste, modern clothing and other amenities of the future. Furious at his behavior, Godefroy finally brings him to the hotel room by force. While Godefroy is talking with Béatrice, Jacquouille swaps jackets with his descendant, closes the curtains, dims the lights, drugs Jacquard and puts him on the bed in his place. In the dark, Godefroy gives Jacquard (thinking it is Jacquouille) the potion which then sends him back to the year 1123. Godefroy equally comes back just in time to stop himself from shooting Frénégonde's father, and the deflected

crossbow A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an elastic launching device consisting of a bow-like assembly called a ''prod'', mounted horizontally on a main frame called a ''tiller'', which is hand-held in a similar fashion to the stock of a long fire ...

bolt kills the witch who caused the whole misadventure by drugging Godefroy's

flask Flask may refer to: Container * Hip flask, a small container used to carry a small amount of liquid * Laboratory flask, laboratory glassware for holding larger volumes than simple test tubes ** Erlenmeyer flask, a common laboratory flask wit ...

. The bewildered Jacquard finds himself stranded in the past in the role of Godefroy's servant as Godefroy leaves on horseback with Frénégonde.

Cast

Christian Clavier Christian Jean-Marie Clavier (; born 6 May 1952) is a French actor, screenwriter, film producer and director. He became widely popular after starring in two hit comedy series: Patrice Leconte's ''Les Bronzés'' and ''Les Visiteurs'' directed by J ...

: Jacquouille la Fripouille (in English, Jacquasse la Crasse) / Jacques-Henri Jacquard *

Jean Reno Jean Reno () (born 30 July 1948), is a French actor. He has worked in American, French, English, Japanese, Spanish and Italian movie productions; Reno appeared in films such as '' Crimson Rivers'', ''Godzilla'', '' The Da Vinci Code'', '' Mission ...

: Godefroy de Montmirail, Count of Montmirail, Apremont and Papincourt *

Valérie Lemercier Valérie Lemercier (; born 9 March 1964) is a French actress, screenwriter, director and singer. Life and career Born in Dieppe, Seine-Maritime as the daughter of farmers, Lemercier grew up in Gonzeville and then studied at the Rouen Conserva ...

: Frénégonde de Pouille / Béatrice de Montmirail * Christian Bujeau: Jean-Pierre Goulard * Marie-Anne Chazel: Ginette la Clocharde * Isabelle Nanty: Fabienne Morlot *

Gérard Séty Gérard Séty (13 December 1922 – 1 February 1998) was a French actor. Partial filmography *'' The Temptation of Barbizon'' (1946) - Le chauffeur (uncredited) *'' Night Warning'' (1946) - Un pilote américain (uncredited) *''Patrie'' (19 ...

: Edgar Bernay * Didier Pain: Louis VI le Gros ''(the Fat)'' * Jean-Paul Muel: Maréchal-des-Logis Gibon * Arielle Séménoff: Jacqueline *

Michel Peyrelon Michel may refer to: * Michel (name), a given name or surname of French origin (and list of people with the name) * Míchel (nickname), a nickname (a list of people with the nickname, mainly Spanish footballers) * Míchel (footballer, born 1963), ...

: Édouard Bernay * Pierre Vial: Eusebius the Wizard / Monsieur Ferdinand *

François Lalande François Lalande (29 November 1930 – 1 September 2020) was an Algerian-born French actor. He had performed in the theatre, on television, and films. Filmography Cinema *''Un jour à Paris'' (1962) *''Yo Yo'' (1965) *'' Le Gang'' (1977) *''La ...

: The priest * Didier Bénureau: Doctor Beauvin * Frédéric Baptiste: Freddy

Reception

''Les Visiteurs'' opened at number one in France with a gross of 17.6 million

French franc The franc (, ; sign: F or Fr), also commonly distinguished as the (FF), was a currency of France. Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money. It w ...

s ($3.3 million) for the week and remained there for ten weeks. It returned to number one for another 7 weeks and was the highest-grossing film in France in 1993 with 13,782,846 ticket sales and a gross of $78 million. It was the highest-grossing non-English language film worldwide that year with a gross of $98.8 million. It remains one of the highest grossing French films ever.

Awards and nominations

* César Awards (France) **Won: Best Actress – Supporting Role (Valérie Lemercier) **Nominated: Best Actor – Leading Role (Christian Clavier) **Nominated: Best Actor – Leading Role (Jean Reno) **Nominated: Best Costume Design (Catherine Leterrier) **Nominated: Best Director (Jean-Marie Poiré) **Nominated: Best Editing (Catherine Kelber) **Nominated: Best Film **Nominated: Best Music (Eric Levi) **Nominated: Best Writing (Christian Clavier and Jean-Marie Poiré)

Home media

The film was released on video in France on 15 December 1993. Permission needed to be sought from the French government to release it less than a year after its theatrical release.

Sequels

A sequel, '' The Visitors II: The Corridors of Time'' followed in 1998, and an American remake, '' Just Visiting'', made with the same stars, was released in 2001. Another sequel, '' The Visitors: Bastille Day'', was released in 2016.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Visiteurs, Les 1993 films Films about time travel 1990s fantasy comedy films French fantasy comedy films Films set in France Films set in the 12th century Films set in 1992 Films set in the Middle Ages Films about witchcraft Gaumont Film Company films Films directed by Jean-Marie Poiré 1993 comedy films 1990s French films