With such colorful creations as the bourgeois and straitlaced Duquesnoy family, the crass and vulgar blue-collar Groseilles or the hilariously unfriendly Auntie Danielle, Etienne Chatillez created archetypal characters that shaped the vision of French family for many generations, through powerful social commentaries amusingly capturing the social flavor of the 80's and 90's.
And Chatillez proved he still 'had it' in the 2000's with the central character of his new comedy, Tanguy
and central is the word. He's the bright-looking fellow in the poster, triumphantly crossing his arms in his parents' bed. And from their not-so-enthusiastic stares, I figured he was an obnoxious guy, while in fact, he is the nicest and most loving son you'd find in any film. That's the mark of Chatillez, he doesn't let archetypes dictate his characters, his characters create the archetypes. The actor who plays Tanguy is Eric Berger, a face seldom seen in the French big screen (the actor who plays his friend, Jean-Paul Rouve, certainly had a more prolific career) but Berger is probably like Tsila Chelton for Auntie Danielle, a one-hit wonder but what a socially loaded hit.
Indeed, the film met with an immediate success as it raised the attention on a growing phenomenon, young men and women (but especially men) who can't leave the house. And Chatillez finds the right approach; he doesn't go for the obvious caricature. Tanguy is a bit of a baby child who has the same 'I love you' ritual with his parent, but that's the key of his personality, he created the sacred link, one that even the parents can't ignore. He made himself 'central' as the center of their preoccupations, but without any malice. If he was an obnoxious little prick playing house music or leaving chips in the couch, the film would have just been about throwing an intruder out of the house
and a much lesser comedy. But "Tanguy" works thanks to the titular character's good personality and how the perception by his parents gets gradually distorted.
Tanguy really deserves a few more words, because he is well-educated, of good bourgeois upbringing and a bright student, he teaches Chinese in his spare time, and he's a good tennis player and from his girls' loud moans, a good lover, he epitomizes the notion of a healthy mind in a healthy body, but still, in an unhealthy situation, at least, if we feel concerned by the mental health of his parents, played by French stars André Dussolier and Sabine Azema. The film opens while they're in denial and still find reasons to convince themselves to keep Tanguy, but when Tanguy announces that he must postpone his travel to China and work one more year for his thesis, they reach their breaking point, they know it's time to cut that damn umbilical cord.
Chatillez' humor is known to be quite dark and in every of his film, there are a few unpleasant tricks or pranks that can seem tasteless and rude, and even though I expected them, I thought the second act went a bit too far. I expected the parents to put Tanguy in awkward situations (making sexual noises, flirting with friends) but the parents go very quickly to the easy (and unpleasant) way. As a father myself, I felt disturbed by the sight of Dussolier putting a nail on the bathroom ground and cheering when Tanguy steps on it, there even comes a time where he hits Tanguy with a tennis ball, and I'm glad it was off-screen. I felt even more sorry for Tanguy because all through the film, he remained oblivious to his parents' cruel doings.
Or maybe did I empathize with him because I belong to that generation and I can understand to a certain degree how the world and the responsibilities of commitments can scare. The 'Tanguy' phenomenon is perhaps the most revealing aspect of the incertitude that governs our times, forcing fully grown-up adults to remain children so to speak. I always said that the baby boom generations are the privileged ones, so maybe that's the boomerang effect of their luck. Still, 'Tanguy" doesn't really deal with the real problems like unemployment or marital troubles that can drive a man to that corner, but it shines the light on an existing reality. And while keeping the tone in-line with this reality, the farce worked better than the uncouth tricks played by the parents.
The film could have done without these parts, especially since the acting of the two actors was clearly affected but what was so close to be parental abuse. But then they seem to be 'punished' for their actions, by some poetic justice, proof that Chatillez was fully aware that the way to success couldn't be paved by these cruel acts. Still, Chatillez should have focused on the cleverest part, the trial. It was a very smart move because Tanguy remained the most consistent character, and never lost his cool, and even on court, his arguments were sincere and loving. That should have been the final act, and not just one episode. The irony of "Tanguy" is that the parents drove the plot, but it's for their son's total obliviousness than the film works.
I often said that it didn't take much for Chatillez' films to work because he always had great characters to work on, "Tanguy" was a good film with good characters, Chatillez should have trusted them enough not to go for a too mean-spirited plot to be believable, and credibility has always been his strongest suit.
