«Tanguy, le retour»: a return to the past?

Cinema Wednesdays - Jonas Follonier

That's the danger of all the «Thingamajig, »The Return." These are movies whose titles already make it clear that the dish we're being served is leftovers from the day before. Oh well, Tanguy, that was really funny, so why not check out the rest too? Find the answer here.

We loved it Tanguy (2001). This French art of the charming comedy of manners, which you watch with your family while reflecting on your own surroundings. But that’s the whole problem with the Number 2: The actors are so proud to be starring in the sequel to a famous and popular movie, and the audience is so theatrical in their mechanical laughter—their laughter just for show, their silly laughter—which lets them prove they know the story… That famous Tanguy, who still lives with his parents at his age—so funny! And here, it’s exactly the same thing!

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Yes, and that's exactly the problem. The idea was original and compelling when it came out Tanguy! It was the first film on the subject, at a time when the social apathy of certain graduate students was beginning to become a genuine social phenomenon. A phenomenon that—now that the film has achieved cult status—has a name: the the Tanguy phenomenon. The actors performed very well—and they still perform very well in this rehash—but the script is so lacking in originality! Expect to be subjected to the same old jokes—the very ones we didn’t have to put up with back in the day—and to see every single plot twist coming.

In fact, when the mother, at the beginning of the film, learns that her son Tanguy has been dumped by his wife—who left her husband and daughter—she exclaims: «»If she tries to take him back, I won't let her!", yet we don’t expect the exact opposite to happen. Seriously, it makes you wonder if some filmmakers don’t take their audiences for fools. It’s a shame, because cinema is truly cinema when it elevates its audience. Even—and especially—in comedies.

One regret, finally, is that the decision to include humor was such an easy choice «»community" in the style of Philippe de Chauveron in a comedy that hardly seems like a film about childhood anymore. Indeed, while the Asian element was already present in the first film, it takes a completely different approach in this new installment. In the first film, it served to highlight the absurdity of academic specialization and naive kindness; in the second, it seems to focus solely on the cultural differences between China and France. We hope you’ll forgive us for finding this shallow.

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Photo credit: © Pathé Films