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Pardon Mon Affaire

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Pardon Mon Affaire
Theatrical release poster
FrenchUn éléphant ça trompe énormément
Directed byYves Robert
Screenplay by
Dialogue byJean-Loup Dabadie
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyRené Mathelin
Edited byGérard Pollicand
Music byVladimir Cosma
Production
companies
Distributed byGaumont Distribution
Release date
  • 22 September 1976 (1976-09-22)
Running time
105 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench
Box office$21.9 million[1]

Pardon Mon Affaire (French: Un éléphant ça trompe énormément, lit. 'An Elephant Can Be Extremely Deceptive') is a 1976 French romantic comedy film co-written and directed by Yves Robert. It stars Jean Rochefort, Claude Brasseur, Guy Bedos, Victor Lanoux, Danièle Delorme and Anny Duperey.

The original title contains a pun in French. The word "trompe" means both "the (elephant's) trunk" and "to cheat" (in the sexual/romantic sense). The film follows a married man's desire to have an affair with a model he just met.

The film was followed by the sequel Pardon Mon Affaire, Too! in 1977. An American remake, The Woman in Red, was released in 1984, directed by and starring Gene Wilder.

Plot

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In Paris, four men in their 40s meet regularly to play tennis and socialise: Étienne Dorsay, a senior civil servant, is married to Marthe, with whom he has two teenage daughters; Simon, a hypochondriac doctor, lives with his overbearing Jewish mother; Bouly is a serial womaniser whose wife keeps leaving him; and Daniel, a car salesman, has a secret relationship with another man while having an affair with a much younger man. Marthe, who has resumed her studies to obtain her university diploma, constantly rejects the unwanted advances of 17-year-old Lucien, a close friend of one of her daughters.

In the car park of his office building one morning, Étienne sees a beautiful young woman walk over a grating when, like Marilyn Monroe, a blast of air blows her red dress over her head. He becomes instantly attracted to her and sets out to pursue her, despite his loyalty to Marthe. A photographic model named Charlotte, she is amused at his attentions and does not discourage him too ferociously. She invites him to meet her in London, where she is on an assignment. Étienne lies to Marthe that he has to leave on a business trip, but his plane is diverted to Brussels due to fog.

Back in Paris, Daniel drives Étienne and Charlotte to the apartment of Étienne's godmother, to whom he is devoted. There, they find Étienne's family, including his wife and daughters, who have all gathered to throw a surprise birthday party for him. Daniel covers for Étienne by pretending that Charlotte is his girlfriend and takes her home. Later that night, as Étienne leaves with his family, his friends devise a scheme to take him to meet Charlotte at her apartment, where the two ultimately consummate their mutual attraction.

The next morning, Charlotte's husband calls to inform her that he is downstairs, having returned expectedly from a trip. She hurriedly instructs Étienne, who is wearing a dressing gown, to wait on the ledge outside her eighth-floor apartment window, assuring him that her husband will not stay long. However, the couple closes the window as they have sex, leaving Étienne trapped on the ledge overlooking the Champs-Élysées.

Étienne attracts the attention of a crowd of onlookers, who assume that he is suicidal. The fire brigade soon arrives and deploys a life net while a television crew films the rescue, which is watched by his friends, as well as his wife and daughters. In the street below, Charlotte waves goodbye to Étienne as she leaves with her husband. Étienne searches for possible conquests among the crowd and, after noticing an attractive blonde reporter, proceeds to jump into the life net as he remarks that he is "only at the beginning of [his] ascent".

Cast

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About the film

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Cinematic references

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The scene at the beginning of the film where Anny Duperey dances above an air vent which makes her skirt fly, is directly inspired by the scene with Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch by Billy Wilder.

Homosexual character

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In France, Claude Brasseur in the film is the first "positive" homosexual character in French cinema, to the point that a San Francisco association wanted to congratulate him. His agent initially advised him not to accept the role, but he insisted, setting a condition: "I said straight away that I didn't want to make Daniel a twisted madwoman!". He also asked to play a fight scene in the film. During the scene where his sexuality is revealed, his lover calls him a "poor cunt" in front of his stunned friends. Claude Brasseur explains: "At that moment, I look at my friends to challenge them. There you go: I'm a faggot and I'm pissing you off! But in the next scene, I'm at home. I cry because I think I'm going to lose my friends who won't understand. Rochefort arrives. He doesn't see me crying. I am filmed from behind, out of pride.[2]

Turkish version

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In Turkey, Ertem Eğilmez directed a movie based on same script localised to an Istanbul Ad Agency executive. Cast with well known theatrical talent to the local audience, the film remains a popular cult classic film despite taking place in rather upper echelons of the society at the time. [citation needed]

Accolades

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Award Year Category Recipient(s) Result Ref(s)
César Awards 1977 Best Supporting Actor Claude Brasseur Won [3]
Best Supporting Actress Anny Duperey Nominated
Best Writing Jean-Loup Dabadie Nominated
Golden Globe Awards 1978 Best Foreign Language Film Pardon Mon Affaire Nominated [4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Un éléphant ça trompe énormément (1976)". JP Box-Office (in French).
  2. ^ Claude Askolovitch, « Le crépuscule des hommes », Vanity Fair No. 49, août 2017, p. 90-97.
  3. ^ "La Cérémonie des César 1977" (in French). Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  4. ^ "Pardon Mon Affaire". Golden Globe Awards. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
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