Les Rois du gag (1985)

Interesting facts

Les Rois du gag is a 1985 French comedy film directed by Claude Zidi and starring Michel Serrault, Gérard Jugnot and Thierry Lhermitte. It tells the story of two struggling comedians who get hired as writers and partners by a famous colleague whose work they originally despised.

Production

The script was originally developed as one of Zidi's projects with the comedy team Les Charlots. When Michel Serrault, who had made Le Grand Bazar with Zidi in 1973, suggested that they work again together, Zidi decided to use this old script, which he rewrote with Didier Kaminka.

The script contained personal elements from Zidi, whose films were often underappreciated by critics and, as a response, wanted to defend comedy and make fun of "intellectual" cinema. As in its story, the film brought together French comedy performers from different generations: Thierry Lhermitte and Gérard Jugnot had become popular in the late 1970s as members of Le Splendid troupe, while Michel Serrault had originally gained fame as a comedian…

The character of "genius" director Robert Wellson has been interpreted as a parody of Orson Welles, with traits reminiscent of Jean-Luc Godard and Federico Fellini, though Zidi has also likened him to Marco Ferreri.

Shortly before principal photography began, Serrault told Zidi that he had lost interest in the film. He was nevertheless contractually bound to do it. Zidi later said that, with hindsight, he should have started over and made the film with another actor.

During the filming of Les Rois du gag, the film My New Partner (Les Ripoux) which Claude Zidi had directed a few months earlier, was released and became a major box-office hit, also earning several César Awards including Best film and Best director. Claude Zidi had included a scene at the César Awards in Les Rois du gag, which became a case of life imitating art.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.