«A bras ouverts», an unfunny comedy

Cinema Wednesdays - Jonas Follonier

With open arms. After the success of his very good film What have we done to God? (2014)—which starred Christian Clavier as the traditional right-wing Frenchman grappling with multiculturalism through his daughters’ boyfriends—Philippe de Chauveron has released his eighth film. The cast includes Christian Clavier and Ary Abittan. The story is based on the same premise, except that this time, it’s not the Catholic bourgeoisie that clashes with diversity, but the “caviar left.”.

In fact, Clavier plays Jean-Étienne Fougerole, an obvious caricature of multiculturalist intellectuals like Bernard-Henri Lévy. On a television set, he gives in to public pressure so as not to be seen as the loser of the debate and declares, in front of his far-right opponent, that he would be willing to take in Roma people into his home to set an example. Of course, his generous offer is taken literally. «Traveling people» show up at his doorstep.

This screenplay, co-written by the director and his brother Marc de Chauveron, has all the ingredients of a good comedy. But the accumulation of prejudices taken to extremes and the antipathy it provokes in the audience toward both the Roma andthe “bobo” couple—despite their excellent portrayals by Christian Clavier and Elsa Zylberstein—means that no one in the theater is laughing. Not once. This is the first time I’ve had such an experience watching a comedy, even with a relatively large audience.

It’s true that the film wasn’t well-received by the press—to say the least. Labeled «racist,» «repugnant,» or even «detestable,» this new French comedy received only one positive review, that of the Figaro. He sees this controversy as proof that it’s becoming difficult to make a comedy in France without veering into political correctness. The right-wing newspaper is undoubtedly right on this point. Nevertheless, the film is not a success, for the simple reason that a comedy is supposed to make people laugh.

Yet, from beginning to end, the atmosphere is tense. Every line of dialogue reinforces our hostile stereotypes about the Roma. We find ourselves wondering when the film will prompt us to question the countless stereotypes it perpetuates. That moment never comes. One excess follows another: the gang leader has metal teeth; he steals; he threatens to kill anyone who tries to touch his still-virgin daughter; his mentally disabled cousin hunts moles with his teeth before devouring them; their accent doesn’t really match the reality of the Romani people, but rather resembles a recycled “little black boy” stereotype.

There are plenty more examples, but let’s move on. While the purpose of a comedy should be to provoke reflective laughter and encourage us to question ourselves or a social group, the result of’With open arms seems to lie somewhere between annoyance and anger—anger toward this dirty, dishonest, and intrusive population. It would undoubtedly have been more effective to focus the camera on this bourgeois left, which is unable to put into practice the moral lessons it preaches all day long, instead of pretending to challenge the way we view the Roma—a perspective we’re not going to abandon anyway.

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