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The Closet [2001]
from Optimum Home Entertainment
starring Daniel Auteuil, Gerard Depardieu, Thierry Lhermitte, Jean Rochefort, Alexandra Vandernoot
directed by Francis Veber

Features:

• PAL

Editorial Review:

A film about society's attitude to sexuality, with a lighthearted dig at political correctness gone mad, The Closet is French farce in the tradition of Moliere: a man pretends to be something he's not, people begin treating him differently, his lie escalates out of all proportion, and comedy ensues. Francois Pignon (Daniel Auteuil) is a dull, divorced accountant in a French rubber-processing factory whose primary product is condoms. The morning of the company photograph he overhears he is going to be fired. After half-heartedly trying to kill himself, he meets his new next-door neighbour who suggests a plot that will keep him from losing his job: he should pretend he's gay, and the neighbour will doctor the photographs and send them to his boss to prove it.

The comedy springs from people's reactions to Pignon's alleged homosexuality. The managing director puts him on a Gay Pride parade float with a condom on his head, his estranged son suddenly thinks he's cool, his female boss catches on to the scam and begins to think that Pignon is not as banal as she first thought, and the homophobic, macho personnel director--a great performance from Gerard Depardieu--discovers his sensitive side. It's well directed by Francis Veber (writer of the original Three Fugitives), who moves the gentle action along masterfully, providing some laugh-out-loud moments and getting some great performances from his ensemble cast. Overall, it's an uplifting comedy about prejudice and how a Mr Nobody becomes a somebody. --Kristen Bowditch

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0

• Veber's Look At Society And Sexuality
  Daniel Auteuil is Pignon, a man who's considered to be boring, straight laced, and rather uninteresting. When Santini (Gérard Depardieu) and his friends suggest Pignon should be sacked - Pignon decides to end it all. It's only because of a new found friend he finds a way to fool the masses at the condom factory and keep his job.
  This isn't as funny as Le Diner De Cons nor Tais-Toi; but they're classics and it's hard to follow such a great act, but it's a very good film, Gérard is very... more info

• CLOSE To perfect
  i think the reviewer below who wants more 'madcap' moments and 'chaotic energy' should watch La Cage Aux Folles and is missing the subtlety of this entire film; anything other would be a recipe for ruining this gentle portrait of Pignon, a broken man, which builds up into a hugely satisfying, poignant yet very funny film (the brevity of the laugh-out-loud moments being their strength - some moments stay with you long after they have ended). Depardieu's character, Santini, has plenty of chaotic energy... more info

• Don't buy for Panasonic players
  This is a superb french farce. By pretending to be gay a company missfit avoids redundancy as discrimination.
  I managed to watch a poor quality copy recorded from late C4 television but on 4 different occasions was unable to buy one that would play on either of my panasonic players

• entertaining
  I also enjoyed this film .In places it made me laugh out loud and made gentle fun of the atmosphere of political correctness which dogs so many of our societies today. At times of course it was a bit unbelievable, but this can be the delight of an entertaining film that can actually leave you with a positive feeling. The characters were beautifully portrayed and I would recommend it to most of my friends.

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