★ 7 / 10
This is the French film that was remade
tmdb76622195
This is the French film that was remade as the 1987 treacly ubersuccess "Three Men and a Baby." They are both equally good, and for different reasons. Pierre…
This is the French film that was remade as the 1987 treacly ubersuccess "Three Men and a Baby." They are both equally good, and for different reasons. Pierre (Roland Giraud) the architect, Michel (Michel Boujenah) the cartoonist, and Jacques (Andre Dussollier) the air steward all live in the same Paris apartment. Their swinging ways are turned upside down when Jacques' hitherto unknown infant child is left on the doorstep with a note attached from the mother saying she will be in the United States on a modelling shoot for a few months. Jacques is not there, either, as he is in the Far East. He did promise to hold a package for a friend, and Pierre and Michel assume baby Marie is it. Very similar to the remake, so far. The baby is given to drug dealers, who come looking for a "package" of heroin. The exchange is not made, and the police follow Pierre and Michel, looking for the narcotics. Strangely, halfway through the film, Michel hands off the heroin in a diaper to the dealer, and this plot, which never worked in either film, suddenly ends! No hidden camera, no dressing like a woman, and no eccentric detective. I wondered just what the heck these people were going to do for the rest of the film.
This is where the darkness creeped in. The mother, Sylvia (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu), comes home and takes the baby back. The three bachelors try to get back to their womanizing and drinking, but they are set upon by such an omnipotent depression, I thought I might have to call the mental health hotline. Michel and Jacques do see the baby on occasion, but try not to bond with it. Pierre is downright suicidal, laying in bed with a squeaky toy. While the first half of the film was not the light fluff of the remake, the second half was so sad and depressing, it gives many foreign films a bad name. The baby is cute, but all the adults here come off as self-centered. A birthday celebration where the shallow guests complain that a child is not "interesting" until it is a toddler was meant to be funny, but is a little painful to watch. In the end, the mother brings the baby back, and the men dance for joy. This was a truly happy scene, and I wish some more happiness had creeped in to other scenes. I can see why the remake made such a big fuss about the drug dealer subplot, can you imagine Tom Selleck looking like he wanted to die, and Steve Guttenberg stalking the model mom from afar? Women do not come off well at all, being either sexual toys for the men or completely selfish shrews who are only concerned with their own happiness, forget the kid. "Three Men and a Cradle" was good, but also ripe for the remake. The remake was good, but never should have spawned the excruciatingly awful sequel.
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★ 6 / 10
Cultural Awareness / Character Arc
gentendo
Cultural Awareness. The distinction between the roles that men and women play in this community conforms to many stereotypes, yet interestingly enough…
Cultural Awareness.
The distinction between the roles that men and women play in this community conforms to many stereotypes, yet interestingly enough, captures the very essence of what can be learned when gender plays against those types. As the assuming standard goes, women, for the most part, are seen in many cultures as the nurturing figures of children; whereas men, to the contrary, are more or less the bread-winners of successful businesses. The women in this film conform to the stereotype of being overly sap-happy in regards to their interactions with children. For men, however, nurturing is not a fundamental component of their nature. Men, according to the stereotype, are rugged, adventurous, fearless and egocentric. Despite the traditional stereotype of men, this film expresses how those roles reverse. It gives new meaning to how men would instinctively respond when placed in positions of considerable moral obligation and sensitivity.
As depicted in the film, three fun-loving yet humorously untrained bachelors are placed under a challenging position when an unknown baby girl swaddled in a cradle arrives unexpectedly at their door. The anxiety they express both through verbal remarks and fidgeting body language convey their conformance to the typical male response. In short, they are displayed as buffoons. They are not in touch with their child-like intuition and seem completely untrained for such a surprise. It's ironic though: on the one hand, they feel inadequate and unsure how to react; yet at the same time, their sense of moral obligation kicks in and they feel compelled to act responsibly. However, they refuse to surrender this new information to anyone (especially women). It's as if a breach in this information would be too challenging for their egos (something none of them are willing to sacrificeat least in the beginning of the film). As they begin to perform the obligatory duties of caring for the child, their love grows immensely for her and they seem to replace the traditional role of women as caretakers.
Character Arc.
I would like to amalgamate the three men in this film as the main character due to their similar dysfunctions and level of competence. In the beginning of the film, they all share an unsettling sense of clumsiness and naivety in regards to their reaction to the child at their doorstep. None of them know properly how to hold a child, change diapers, buy appropriate milk formula, and put the child to sleep effectively. However, as they rise to fulfill their moral duties in taking care of the child's needs, they discover that they do possess something far beyond any talent could afford. They possess the attribute of love. This love propels them to begin making sacrifices for the child beyond their own selfish desires. One of the men cancels a special date he had planned with his girlfriend; another postpones his cartoon drawings for his business. All of these small yet profound sacrifices demonstrate the men's love they have for the child. Even though they never seem very happy when caring for its needs (this due to the strenuous task it is to raise children effectively), the rewards of knowing how much they love the child is shown when their house gets broken into by drug addicts. The house is left in ruins, yet the only concern on their minds is to secure the safety of the child. This shows their extreme dedication to human life beyond what any material possession could afford them. Through practice, patience and time, the men learn how to cope with the situation at hand. At the end of the film when the real mother comes back to claim the child, all three men go through withdrawals (a symbol of their attachment). The withdrawals are all natural results of seeing how much time, energy and love they placed into raising the child. The maxim is fulfilled in their hearts, "Love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation." They have changed in the end, becoming more refined and sensitive. They have gained a new perspective through the things in which they suffered in knowing not only what love is, but also realizing their inner-strength of knowing how much weight is possible for them to bear.
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I remember seeing the american remake, Three men and a baby in the cinema as a kid but I never saw the original.