''The Frenchman's Son'' or ''Le fils du Français'' is a 1999 French comedy-adventure film directed by

Gérard Lauzier Gérard Lauzier (30 November 1932 – 6 December 2008) was a French comics author and movie director, best known as one of the leading authors in the more adult-oriented French comics scene of the 1970s and 1980s. Biography Gérard Lauzier was bo ...

Plot

Since the death of his mother, nine-year-old Benjamin has lived in Paris with his grandmothers, Anne and Suzanne. They can't stand each other and are very different. Anne is a wealthy, cultured singing teacher, while Suzanne, a janitor, smokes a lot, steals from people and likes to cheat at poker. Meanwhile, Benjamin's father Christian is in South America, where he has been prospecting for gold for two years. One day Benjamin receives a letter from his father inviting him to live with him in Brazil. His grandmothers, who are always fighting, travel with Benjamin. When they arrive at Christian's house in Brazil, there is no trace of him. Benjamin finally admits that shortly before they left, he received a call from his father saying that he had to cancel the meeting. They finally learn from a neighbour that Christian went to a small village, Santa Rita. But when Benjamin, Anne and Suzanne arrive there, they only find Christian's assistant Jean. He tells them that Christian had to suddenly leave for Paris without explaining the details to him so as not to endanger him unnecessarily. Two armed men try to kidnap Benjamin, and his grandmothers manage to prevent this. The Parisians flee into the Brazilian jungle together with Jean. On their way through the jungle, they meet indigenous people who invite them to their village. Their chief likes Suzanne and wants to marry her. The following morning, the four French sneak out of the village and head back into the jungle. On the way they are found by Aureliano, a landowner, and his daughter Iracema. Aureliano takes them to his country house and proves to be a generous host, who is also a passionate singer. As he practices opera arias on the piano with Anne, they become close. Soon, armed groups of indigenous people arrive. Benjamin, Jean, Anne and Suzanne have to flee once again. However, the helicopter that is supposed to bring them to safety belongs to their pursuers, who previously wanted to kidnap Benjamin. The French are taken to a drug cartel’s base and held there in captivity. They are rescued when the Brazilian army attacks the base. The cartel’s bosses take the French hostage, but are killed by the indigenous village chief who followed them. As it turns out, Christian had witnessed a murder by the drug mafia and reported it to the police. The police arrested him for alleged diamonds smuggling, so the drug dealers could not kill him. Instead, they wanted to silence him by kidnapping his son. When Christian is released from prison, Benjamin, Anne, Suzanne, Jean and Aureliano are waiting for him in a car. They drive away together.

Cast

Fanny Ardant Fanny Marguerite Judith Ardant (born 22 March 1949) is a French actress and film director. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two César Awards and a Lumières Award. Early life Ardant was born in Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, ...

as Anne *

Josiane Balasko Josiane Balasko (born Josiane Balašković; 15 April 1950) is a French actress, writer, and director. She has been nominated seven times for César Awards, and won twice. Career One of Balasko's most recognized roles among English speakers is ...

as Suzanne * David-Alexandre Parquier as Benjamin * Thierry Frémont as Jean *

Luca Barbareschi Luca Barbareschi (born 28 July 1956 in Montevideo) is an Italian-Uruguayan actor, television presenter, and former member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies. Barbareschi is Jewish. He was one of four actors whom the Italian police believed ha ...

as Aureliano *

George Aguilar George Aguilar is a Mescalero Apache and Pascua Yaqui actor. He is best known for his roles as Cahuenga in ''Bagdad Café'', Johnny Sassamon in ''The Scarlet Letter'', Grandfather Stone in Dreamkeeper, Big Foot in '' Into the West'', and Ka ...

as Indian Chief *

Daniel Ceccaldi Daniel Ceccaldi (25 July 1927 – 27 March 2003) was a French actor. He was born in Meaux, Seine-et-Marne, France. The mild-mannered Daniel Ceccaldi is famous as Claude Jade's father ''Lucien Darbon'' in François Truffaut's movies ''Stolen Kis ...

as Monsieur Oliver *

Fanny Valette Fanny Valette (born 4 July 1986) is a French actress. In January 2011 she parodied herself in the video to Max Boublil's comic song ''J'aime les moches'' ("I like ugly girls"). ""J'aime les moches parce qu'on ne s'les fait pas piquer, j'aime l ...

as Iracema *

Ralph Kinnard Ralph Kinnard (born Ralf Graessner, in Germany) is an American film director and acting coach. He has won “Best Director” at the L.A. Arpa Foundation for Film, Music and Art and “Best Foreign Film”, NYC Downtown Film Festival, participate ...

as Jean * Eric Boucher as Christian Laviel * Cyrille Bonnet as Marcel

Around the movie

This is on the set of the movie that

met her future husband

. They married in 2003.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Frenchman's Son 1999 films 1990s adventure comedy films French adventure comedy films 1990s French-language films 1999 comedy films Films scored by Vladimir Cosma Films directed by Gérard Lauzier 1990s French films