The mock-epic madness, historical hijinks, and scatological spectacle of outrageousness that made THE VISITORS the highest-grossing film of all time in France - these are not things one ordinarily associates with the French. From the land that gave us Eric Rohmer, one does not expect a time-travel comedy complete with bathroom humor. As Miramax Zoe unleashes Jean-Marie Poire's THE VISITORS on an unsuspecting American public, be prepared to alter your idea of French cinema, or at least to see a side of the French that may help explain why they love Jerry Lewis...
In fact, the talent associated with THE, VISITORS comes from a particular sphere within the French entertainment world, a sphere that is extremely distinct to the French but has no exact American equivalent. This is the "cafe theatre," the brilliant improvisational groups that cropped up throughout the Parisian cabaret scene in the seventies and eighties and produced some of the leading lights of the current French cinema. The most famous of these groups, the Splendid, launched the careers of many of those involved with THE VISITORS.
The year is 1123 and the bad-tempered, sex-starved, loony King of France, Louis VI - also known as "The Fat" -- is at war with his cousin Henry I, King of England and Duke of Normandy. The French prevail, and King Louis (Didier Pain) rewards his valiant Knight Godefroy - (Jean Reno), Comte de Montmirail and Papincourt, by betrothing him to the daughter of the Duke of Puglia, Frenegonde (Valerie Lemercier), a noblewoman upon whom Godefroy has long had his eye.
Overjoyed, Godefroy leaves the King and crosses France, returning home to his intended. He is accompanied, as always, by his faithful, if dimwitted and supremely crude, squire, Jacquouille (Christian Clavier) -- a Quixote and Sancho couple if ever there was one. Believing himself invincible, Godefroy risks anything and everything, including the fearful black magic known to lurk in the Forest of Malcombe.
This proves to be rather a bad idea.
In the cursed Forest, a black mass is underway. An evil witch is turning an old hag young. Godefroy has the witch arrested and she, in vengeance, casts a spell over him, causing him to mistake Frenegonde's father, the Duke, for a raging bear. To the shock and amazement of everyone, Godefroy takes aim and shoots his fiancee's father in the forehead with a crossbow, effectively destroying all his plans for marriage, procreation and happiness.
Eager to rectify this ghastly error and save himself, the frantic knight turns to a noted wizard, Eusaebius (Pierre Vial), begging him to lift the witch's curse. Eusaebius, a little out of practice in the wizardly arts, attempts to help poor Godefroy. He prepares a potion that should permit Godefroy to return to the moment when he accidentally shot the Duke, and -- with a suitable degree of faith -- to undo the past, changing the course of events in his favor.
Unfortunately, the wizard forgets a key ingredient and propels Godefroy and Jacquouille forward in time -- about 900 years or so -- to the late twentieth century.
Suddenly the two bewildered men find themselves in a world of asphalt highways, huge airplanes, ringing telephones and fast food. All of their values seem to have been turned upside down. Centuries of change, including such events as the French Revolution and the invention of plumbing and electricity, have transformed their world. Godefroy and Jacquouille are mistaken for escaped lunatics or television stars.
Except by the present-day Countess of Montmirail, Beatrice (again played by Valerie Lemercier in an unforgettable double-role). This woman, the spitting image of her "ancestor" Frenegonde, imagines that Godefroy must be a cousin of hers, Hubert, who had a racing car accident and went a bit off his rocker.
Beatrice wears a Lacoste shirt and is married to a country dentist. Changing times have forced them to give up Godefroy's castle, the ancestral home, which has been sold to a preening, nouveau-riche hotelier, Jacquart (the modern version of Jacquouille, also played by Christian Clavier). The castle, rebuilt under Francois I and again under Louis XIV, has been turned into a moat-less luxury hotel. To Godefroy's horror, it appears that yesterday's beggars are today's noblemen...
For Godefroy, worst of all problems, perhaps, is that Beatrice, in spite of her resemblance to his betrothed Frenegonde, is his descendant. And how is he to escape the nightmare of the end of the twentieth century, reverse the curse, and return to his own time?
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