Too much of everything

Pretty Good

Fresh and Exciting

best movie i've ever seen.

This movie is the one I watched most often. It seems to be a bit foolish first, two old men farting all the time and an alien allured by that sound. But the acting is simply great and the humor quite intelligent. The German title of that movie is "Louis und seine ausserirdischen Kohlköpfe" meaning "Louis and his extraterrestrial heads of cabbage". The German version is missing some of the original scenes, e.g. one where Chérasse tries to hang himself. Unfortunately I'm lacking of speaking French, so I can't assess the original version.It is my favourite movie with Louis de Funès next to "L'Aile ou la cuisse". He seems to be born for such a role playing a grumpy old man.

When I first saw this movie, about 10 years ago, I really liked it. I remember making cabbage soup and drinking an entire bottle of wine the same night! But today, my opinion of the film differs. Not that it's a complete waste of time, but it seems it was rushed into production. Great actors (De Funès, Carmet and Villeret), but not used to their full potential. And some scenes are just plain stupid, like the farting contest. The difficulty for peasants to adjust to today's lifestyle could have been more well explored, even in a comedy of this sort. One bright note: La Denrée, played by Villeret. His language is hilarious!Out of 100, I gave it 66. That's good for *½ out of ****. Ten years ago, I gave it 78. Seen at home, in Toronto, on November 28th, 2004.

"La soupe aux choux" is more than all things, the story of the sincere friendship between two old men. Besides and in spite of rough discussions between them, this friendship remains complete and always sincere. It's necessary to precise that these old men are not farmers, but peasants, one was a well-sinker, the other a maker of sabots. It's also a mistake to believe that peasants are some resistant to change; this kind of mentality comes from old age, and it's true for everybody.The beauty of that film comes before all from the greay quality of the actors and of their interpretation. And it's true not only for Louis de Funès, but also for Jean Carmet and Jacques Villeret. It's surely because of the quality of the direction of Jean Girauld, on the one hand and the dragging of the quality of play of that tremendous actor who was Louis de Funès on the other hand.I have seen that film about fifty times at least, and I feel the need to see it again about three to four times a year. Each time I like it and never find it vulgar, because it's necessary to be highter than the apparent vulgarity of certain scenes. Never forget that everyone can, at a time in his life do some scenes like these, and we should not feel ashamed to do that, it's all and completely human. It's precisely what the film is, very human, and it explains the attachment we have for it. Even if the film is a little budget one, it's one of the best of that great actor who was Louis de Funès.

This was Mr de Funès on one of his last movies. Even if the health was not all there, he still had the touch and wacky ways of making us laugh. It had a moral, not to make fun at you elders, even if they are living in the past manners. You need to be open minded and you must be a fan of Mr de Funès to really appriciate his style of humour.