The Intouchables: Who Defines Antisocial?
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Books and Media References the paper onto a desk. A pretty redheaded assistant 1. Candilis PJ, Martinez R: Reflections and Narratives: new to the (Audrey Fleurot) asks him questions and gets noth- journal and to professional ethics. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law ing from him but intimations of sexual arousal. The 40:12–13, 2012 boss, Philippe, reveals himself, self-confident and un- Cheryl D. Wills, MD flappable, and seems intrigued by the anomaly of Cleveland, OH Driss. Philippe, who controls his chair with a mouth Disclosures of financial or other potential conflicts of interest: None. stick, calls Driss’s bluff, saying that while he cannot sign the paper (the first of many quad jokes), Driss can have it the next morning. Driss agrees, and as he returns to the projects we learn he has stolen a jew- The Intouchables: Who Defines eled egg from the mansion. This isn’t funny. He Antisocial? presents it to an unappreciative aunt, who hasn’t seen him for months. Seeing through him and regarding Written and directed by Olivier Nakache and Erik Toledano. Co-produced by Quad Productions, Chaocorp, him as a negative role model for the several younger Gaumont, and TF1 Films Production. Distribution by The siblings (who adore him), she kicks him out. After Weinstein Company. Limited release in the United States spending the night getting high with street cronies, May 25, 2012. 112 minutes. Driss returns to Philippe’s mansion, not to the signed paper, but to a tour of the house and a luxurious The Intouchables1 treats us to a new permutation of bedroom and en suite bath. Apparently, he has been the buddy film. Set in contemporary Paris and based hired. After a brief review of his duties, which include on an actual relationship, it depicts a rich, former manual evacuation of the master’s bowels and the daredevil with quadriplegia paired with a Senegalese instruction that he monitor the man on a 24/7 infant immigrant who is a lost boy and a dedicated slacker. surveillance intercom, he re-encounters Philippe, The chair-bound and fastidious Philippe (Franc¸ois who bets Driss won’t last two weeks. Cluzet) requires a high level of personal care. He can Philippe has Driss investigated and finds he has afford it but is very selective and determined not to a minor criminal record. He has spent six months be pitied. Enter Driss (Omar Sy), whose sole concern in jail, which explains why he hadn’t been home. at the outset is getting his unemployment paper This bothers Philippe’s attorney, who, articulating signed, so he can get benefits and enjoy a carefree the prevailing theory of psychopathy, points out street life. that types such as Driss are brutes and have no pity. In the opening scene, Driss recklessly drives Exactly, Philippe retorts, “no pity” is what he wants. Philippe through Paris traffic in a Maserati. Unable The table is now set for the collision of cultures and to avoid a police stop, Driss bets his paralyzed pas- worldviews. It takes a while for Driss to appreciate senger that he (Driss) can talk his way out of it; quadriplegia and the disparity between Philippe’s Philippe fakes a seizure, slobbering on his beard. confident personality and his total dependence on More, Driss doubles the bet, suggesting that the po- others for survival. In an odd melding of antisocial lice will escort them to the hospital. The pair’s his- behavior and slapstick, we see Philippe pretending to trionics flawlessly persuade the police, who escort sleep while Driss accidentally spills hot tea on him them to the emergency room entrance. Just as the and gets no reaction. Still incredulous, Driss touches hospital orderlies wheel out a gurney, Driss hits the the teapot and recoils in pain and then proceeds to gas. We track their getaway much later in the film. pour the liquid onto the boss’s legs in a disturbingly Right away, we cheer for dyssocial wish fulfillment. playful fashion. This scene does not depict the ultra- Driss, somewhat hyperactive, shows up at a man- violence of Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange; sion for a job interview. Not his idea; he did it to rather, it portrays a child’s amazement at something pretend that he had looked for work, sure that no one never imagined. Philippe opens his eyes and calmly would hire him. A signature stands between him schools Driss that he can neither move nor feel from and benefits. A casually dressed and impatient black the neck down. From the audience’s perspective, man amid a dozen seated white guys in suits, he is Cluzet can only act from the neck up and does a intolerant of the process. When he can wait no longer remarkable job of portraying dignity, humor, panic, he barges into the interview room, brashly slapping and sexual arousal (with his ears). 148 The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Books and Media Remarkably too, Philippe is unperturbed by When he learns Philippe has had an epistolary rela- Driss’s shenanigans. The caregiver consistently flouts tionship with a woman for months, Driss puts in- social conventions, has no respect for the autonomy tense pressure on him to make personal contact. of others, and uses force to impose his will on strang- Here, he shows less contempt and more empathy, ers. The house staff, including the redhead Magalie sensing that Philippe has potential. Driss grabs a let- and Philippe’s majordomo Yvonne (Anne Le Ny), is ter from the pen pal, dials her phone number, and wary but largely amused by Driss’s insouciance. We forces his boss to talk. It turns out that she will be were too. Magalie has his number, suggesting at visiting Paris, and they make a date. Philippe, accom- times that she could be seduced, only to laugh at him panied by Yvonne, wait in a restaurant for her, but with his pants down. Sparing no amount of charm, even after several shots of whiskey, his tension is un- he is persistent with her, even at the end when she bearable and he makes her leave with him. We see reveals her same-sex preference. Magalie plays got- them passing the woman near the entrance; Philippe cha! with him once more when she whispers in his ear is not ready to be seen in his condition. that she’d consider a threesome, followed by, “I’m In another step toward redemption, Driss inter- kidding,” which nearly wipes the disarming grin off venes when Philippe needs guidance on how to set his face. Sy is exceptionally charming in the role of limits with his teenaged daughter. Philippe has a Driss. The character believes he is irresistible, and Sy chamber music concert in his home to celebrate his makes it so. In recognition, he won the 2012 French birthday, but his daughter stays in bed, feeling the Ce´sar award for best actor, nosing out Jean Dujardin effects of an overdose of Imodium and Tylenol after (The Artist). a tiff with her boyfriend. The concert is a total bore. Besides his antisocial behavior (bullying and mild Seeing that Driss doesn’t appreciate the music, violence, cutting queues, and driving like a maniac), Philippe orders the orchestra to play in various styles. Driss is hilarious as he encounters Philippe’s world of No dice. In response, Driss attaches his iPod to a privilege and culture. We see Philippe staring at a sound system, treating everyone to the pop group modern painting, remarking on the esthetics, while Earth, Wind, and Fire (performing “September”). Driss, mouth agape, looks at the white canvas with His dance moves and ability to mobilize Philippe’s a smudge of red and calls it a nosebleed. The paint- staff are quite charming. In a turning point in the ing probably costs about €30,000. When Philippe film, Philippe appreciates at once their commonali- shows interest, against Driss’s urgings, the gallery ties and differences. As close as they have become, worker checks the price. When she sheepishly they are from different worlds and will eventually go comes back with the figure of €41,500, Philippe in- their separate ways. stantly says, “I’ll take it.” We soon see Driss, easel and Ultimately, Driss seems at home with his role canvas in his room, small paint roller in his hand, and relationship with Philippe. His work is nearly creating some smudges of his own. Miraculously, he done, and he gravitates back to his adoptive family. produces an abstract piece, which Philippe, Magalie, Philippe does not despair overtly and resumes the and Yvonne all like. Driss wonders, “What can I get process of interviewing caregivers, but he stops for this?” We then see Philippe with the art dealer, grooming and dressing, and we can infer that he is in pokerfaced, lying about this new artist’s upcoming mourning. The new caregiver, lacking Driss’s cha- shows in London and Germany. Has he adopted risma, runs into trouble. In the middle of the night, some of Driss’s street-hustler ways? The dealer buys it he hears Philippe in distress and finds him in an and pays €11,000. Later, aboard Philippe’s private agitated state. This phenomenon was previously de- jet (en route to paragliding in the mountains), a scribed as a whole-body phantom pain attack. giddy Driss gets the cash. Although it is not explicit, Philippe dismisses the flustered aide, but Yvonne he probably uses it to help his little brother out of summons Driss. Seeing how Philippe has let himself some trouble, one of the steps he takes toward deteriorate, Driss scoops him into the car and we see redemption.