Les visiteurs (1993)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Jean-Marie Poiré

Writers:

Christian Clavier (writer)
Jean-Marie Poiré (writer)

Release Date:

12 July 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy | Comedy

Tagline:

When an 11th century knight and his loyal servant try to go back in time, only one thing will stand in their way. The 20th century.

Plot:

A medieval nobleman and his squire are accidentally transported to contemporary times by a senile sorcerer...

Plot Keywords:

Time | Sorcerer | Medieval | Deranged Woman | Cult Comedy

Awards:

1 win & 8 nominations

Cast

Christian Clavier	...	Jacquouille la Fripouille / Jacquard
Jean Reno	...	Godefroy de Papincourt, Comte de Montmirail
Valérie Lemercier	...	Frénégonde de Pouille / Béatrice de Montmirail
Marie-Anne Chazel	...	Ginette la clocharde
Christian Bujeau	...	Jean-Pierre
Isabelle Nanty	...	Fabienne Morlot
Gérard Séty	...	Edgar Bernay
Didier Pain	...	Louis VI le Gros
Jean-Paul Muel	...	Marechal des Logis Gibon
Arielle Séménoff	...	Jacqueline (as Ariel Séménoff)
Michel Peyrelon	...	Edouard Bernay
Pierre Vial	...	Wizard Eusebius / Monsieur Ferdinand
François Lalande	...	Priest
Didier Bénureau	...	Intern Beauvin
Frédéric Baptiste	...	Freddy
Pierre Aussedat	...	Chief Sgt. Morlet
Tara Gano	...	Witch
Stéphanie Marie	...	Princess Kathlyn, mistress of Louis VI
Jean-Luc Caron	...	Ganelon
Anna Gaylor	...	Godfroid de Mont-Mirail's Mother
Claire Magnin	...	Rejuvenate's Old Woman
Eric Averlant	...	Brother Raoul
Jean-Pierre Clami	...	Restaurant's Boss
Thierry Liagre	...	Restaurant's Cook
David Gabison	...	Maître d'hôtel
Patrick Burgel	...	Duc de Pouille, Frénégonde's Father
Paul Bandey	...	Henri 1st Beauclerc, King of UK
Jérôme Berthoud
Amandine Boyadjian
Yohan Boyadjian
Katia Delagarde
Eric Denize
Bela Grushka
Dominique Hulin
Jean-Guillaume Le Dantec
Madeleine Marie
André Raffard
Michel Scourneau
Théophile Sowié	...	The Postman
Nadia Vasil
Katja Weitzenböck
Olivier Wojciechowski
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dominique Delguste	...	Male nurse (uncredited)
Jean-Marie Poiré	...	A villain (uncredited)
Gérard Vives	...	Infirmier (uncredited)

Directed by
Jean-Marie Poiré

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Christian Clavier		writer
Jean-Marie Poiré		writer

Produced by
Alain Terzian	....	producer

Original Music by
Eric Levi

Cinematography by
Jean-Yves Le Mener

Film Editing by
Catherine Kelber

Casting by
Françoise Menidrey

Production Design by
Hugues Tissandier

Art Direction by
Bertrand Seitz

Set Decoration by
Hugues Tissandier

Costume Design by
Catherine Leterrier

Makeup Department
Sophie Antonuccio	....	assistant hair stylist
Patrick Archambault	....	hair stylist
Muriel Baurens	....	makeup artist
Jacques Gastineau	....	special makeup effects artist
Patrice Iva	....	assistant hair stylist
Gisèle Jacquin	....	assistant hair stylist
Sylvie Jouineau	....	assistant makeup artist
Nadia Laurent	....	assistant makeup artist
Annick Legout	....	assistant makeup artist
Emmanuel Pitois	....	special makeup effects artist
Gilles Rossire	....	special makeup effects artist

Production Management
Laure Blaess	....	assistant production manager
Agnès Chaulier	....	production manager
Caroline Gautier	....	assistant production manager
Philippe Lièvre	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gilles Bannier	....	assistant director
Isabelle Beauchesne	....	assistant director
Laurence Coq	....	assistant director
Francis De Gueltz	....	second unit director
Paul Gueu	....	assistant director
Pierre Pochy	....	assistant director
Gary Saint-Martin	....	assistant director

Art Department
Jean-Laurent Agrinier	....	props
Odile Alliet	....	painter
Jean-Noël Andrieux	....	carpenter
Louis-Fernand Billet	....	property master
Jean-Robert Blanche	....	scenic artist
Dominique Crepet	....	carpenter
Badara Faye	....	carpenter
Olivier Foucher	....	set designer
Emmanuel Gateau	....	assistant production designer
Bruno Goury	....	carpenter
Michel Grimaud	....	property master
Michel Guarguir	....	painter
Madjid Hamzaoui	....	construction manager
Christophe Hervé	....	painter
Manuel Jorge	....	swing gang
Gilles LaBoulandine	....	construction coordinator
Bruno Lefebvre	....	assistant property master
Patrick Lefebvre	....	set dresser
Benoît Lemaire	....	assistant property master
Daniel Maltret	....	lead man
Serge Margiocchi	....	carpenter
Vincent Maroutian	....	painter
Daniel Mauvignier	....	painter
Jérôme Poirier	....	set dresser
Claude Pollan	....	painter
Pierre Roger	....	painter
Roger Saillard	....	set designer
Philippe Savoir	....	storyboard artist
Frank Thevenon	....	construction coordinator
Christophe Thiollier	....	storyboard artist
Evelyne Tissandier	....	swing gang
Patrick Tombette	....	construction foreman
Sophie Vesoul	....	assistant production designer
Thomas Vichy	....	key painter
Patrick Widdrington	....	head carpenter

Sound Department
Sylviane Bouget	....	boom operator
Gilbert Crozet	....	dubbing sound
Jean Goudier	....	sound
Frédéric Hamelin	....	sound engineer: second unit
Bernard Leroux	....	sound mixer
Jérôme Lévy	....	foley artist
Pascal Mazière	....	foley artist
Jean-Charles Ruault	....	sound
Claude Villand	....	sound mixer

Special Effects by
Florence Lagrange	....	special effects
Jean-Marc Mouligne	....	special effects
Jacques Puiseux	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Pitof	....	visual effects supervisor
Antoine Simkine	....	visual effects executive producer: Duboi
Jean-Marie Vives	....	matte painting director
Rip Hampton O'Neil	....	director of reseach and development (uncredited)
Marc Jouveneau	....	visual effects coordinator (uncredited)

Stunts
Joëlle Baland	....	stunts
Alain Barbier	....	stunts
Terrance Eugene Fredericks	....	stunts (as Terrance Fredericks)
Jean Gouello	....	stunts (as Jean Gonello)
Mario Luraschi	....	stunt coordinator
Joel Matray	....	stunts
Roland Neunreuther	....	stunt coordinator
Leslie Rain	....	stunts (as Leslie Goranson)
Dany Roca	....	stunts
Bernard Sachse	....	stunts
Jean-Marie Sonnet	....	stunts
Patrick Steltzer	....	stunts
Noël Vandendries-Lestienne	....	stunts
Lionel Vitrant	....	stunts
Mario Luraschi	....	stunts (uncredited)
Roland Neunreuther	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Fabrice Anut	....	grip
André Atellian	....	key grip
Frédéric Atellian	....	best boy grip
Brigitte Barbier	....	first assistant camera
Benoît Bayle	....	grip
Christophe Beaucarne	....	camera operator: second unit
Eric Bialas	....	assistant camera
Richard Brodet	....	electrician
Bernard Caroff	....	electrician
Christophe Cojan	....	electrician
Alain Cousseau	....	gaffer
Muriel Cravatte	....	focus puller
Pascal Delaunay	....	grip
Dominique Delguste	....	first assistant camera: second camera
Hervé Dieu	....	assistant camera
Jean-Michel Gageat	....	electrician
Pascal Henin	....	electrician
Christophe Legal	....	first assistant camera: second unit
Bernard Lependu	....	assistant chief lighting technician
Jacques Mironneau	....	camera operator
Eric Nové	....	grip
Gilles Poulin	....	electrician
Jérôme Prébois	....	still photographer
Marie-Laure Prost	....	second assistant camera
Philippe Ros	....	director of photography: second unit
Jean-Pierre Sauvaire	....	director of photography: second unit
Jean-Claude Temporelli	....	best boy electric
Marc Koninckx	....	Steadicam operator (uncredited)

Casting Department
Célina Blanc	....	extras casting
Evelyne Tison	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Marie-Françoise Coureur Le Duc	....	costumer
Charlotte David	....	wardrobe
Fanny Jakubowicz	....	costumer
Suzette Monlouis	....	costumer
Annick Redon	....	costumer
Gretchen Gain	....	set costumer (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Camille Bordes-Resnais	....	first assistant editor
Nathalie Delest	....	post-production coordinator
Lizzie Gelber	....	second assistant editor
Didier Ranz	....	editor: video
Dorian Rigal-Ansous	....	assistant editor
Jean-Philippe Vallespir	....	second assistant editor
Adeline Yoyotte	....	first assistant editor

Music Department
Dominik Borde	....	music mixer
Mario Klemens	....	conductor

Other crew
Rachel Corlet-Soulier	....	script supervisor
Thierry Crépin	....	location manager
François d'Artemare	....	stage manager
Frédéric Doniguian	....	production assistant
Caroline Emery	....	production secretary
Stephan Guillemet	....	production assistant
Jérôme Haumont	....	production assistant
Jean-Louis Lalet	....	production assistant
Carmen Lima	....	production assistant
Jean-Charles Maratier	....	fencing master
Anne Marchal	....	production assistant
Andreas Meszaros	....	production assistant
Céline Migeon	....	script girl
Philippe Morlier	....	production assistant
Chantal Pernecker	....	script supervisor
Francis Pesquer	....	tapestry
Frédéric Pesquer	....	tapestry
Julie Salvador	....	production assistant
Dominique Segall	....	press attache
Dominique Segall	....	press promotion
Alain Terzian	....	presenter
Bobane Veselinovic	....	location manager
Philippe Zone	....	assistant horse master
Pamela Clay	....	adr voice (uncredited)

Thanks
Philippe Savay	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Alpilles Productions
• Amigo Productions
• Canal+
• France 3 Cinéma
• Gaumont International

Distributors

• Lucernafilm - Gama (1993) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• Miramax Zoë (1996) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Scotia International Filmverleih (1993) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Abril Vídeo (199?) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Cine Company S.A. (Spain)
• Gativideo (1995) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Lions Gate Films (Canada)
• Miramax Home Entertainment (USA) (DVD)
• Universum Film (UFA) (2005) (Germany) (DVD) (cut)
• Versus Entertainment (2009) (Spain) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Duboi

Other Companies

• Motion Control Cameras  visual effects
• Renault  vehicles

Also Known As:

Les visiteurs - Ils ne sont pas nés d'hier (France) (alternative title)
The Visitors

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Argentina:Atp | South Korea:All | South Korea:12 (DVD rating) | Singapore:NC-16 | Denmark:11 | Australia:M | Finland:K-12/9 | France:U | Germany:12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Carcassonne, Aude, France

Company:

Alpilles Productions

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Godefroy arrives at Béatrice's, he complains that "there's no longer any hectare of forest". He uses a surface area unit that was invented during the French Revolution.

Quotes:

Jacquouille la Fripouille: Don't drink it
[the potion]
Jacquouille la Fripouille: , Sire! You might turn into a frog, a bat, a goat, or a nun's arse!
Godefroy de Papincourt, Comte de Montmirail: You're right. Drink first!
Jacquouille la Fripouille: Me?
Godefroy de Papincourt, Comte de Montmirail: Let's see if you turn into a nun's arse. If you do, I'll seek revenge.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)

Subtitles and All

Sometime soon we'll agree not to be mad at the French. When that happens, look for "Les Visiteurs" on cable or at the video place. The frantic humor of this time-shifting comedy works well both on the French dialogue track and through the somewhat loose paraphrases of the subtitles. Yes, folks, subtitles and all, this is a good one.

Christian Clavier emerged from the Splendide, a French take on Second City, to seize the film comedy market by the throat. Like Jerry Lewis, he is in need of a straight man. Lewis's moved on to the Ding-a-Ling Sisters. Clavier has granite-faced Jean Reno of "French Kiss" and "Mission Impossible", the man with the permanent dix-sept heures shadow across his jowls. Their interaction is spot-on hilarious.

Oddly, the memorable quote from this film is in (sort of) English. "OK" is acceptable Franglais, the Academie notwithstanding. Clavier's character becomes fascinated with the word, shouting "O-Kayyy"! at the least provocation. Listen to my wife and I converse: we echo old Jacqouille all the time.