Irénée has no desire to work in his uncle's grocery shop and dreams of becoming an actor. His opportunity comes when a crew of movie makers came to his little village. Irénée begins to go over the top in order to be noticed, which earns him the traditional joke reserved to a "Schpountz" (naive person): a phoney contract and a departure for Paris.
Acting
Smaïn's physical comedy carries every scene he's in.
Writing
Marcel Pagnol's 1938 script updated with surprisingly sharp bite.
Director
Gérard Oury
Smaïn
Irénée
Sabine Azéma
Françoise
Ticky Holgado
Oncle Baptiste
Martin Lamotte
Brenner
Annie Grégorio
Tante Clarisse
Jean-Marie Juan
Delhomme
Jean-Jérôme Esposito
Casimir
Éric Boucher
Bartok
Rémy Roubakha
Martelette
Fabrice Roux
Meynard
Philippe Beglia
Couturier
Carole Brenner
Julie
Jean-Marie Winling
le professeur
Marcel Philippot
Dominique
Edmonde Franchi
Madame Aubanel
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This is a remake of Marcel Pagnol's 1938 film starring Fernandel—the role Smaïn was born to inherit as France's then-biggest Arab-French comedian.
The 'schpountz' archetype comes from Provençal slang, and Gérard Oury's remake sparked debate about whether the joke still worked post-colonialism.
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