I started thinking while I was still watching the "Intouchables" last night. I was thinking all night and all day today. The movie made me want to look deeper into our human nature.
The story isn't so original after all. We witness fairy tale plots everyday and they all look alike. But this one, could be because it is inspired by a true story, is very special and extraordinary. There are two main characters: Philippe and Driss. Philippe is a rich aristocrat, who is paralyzed physically and emotionally. Driss is a young black man who has just been to prison, paralyzed socially, if I may say so. Both unhappy, both looking for happiness, so different they were destined to meet and change each other's lives.
What makes Philippe and Driss become friends after all? Is their friendship even possible? These two extremes balance each other and in the balance they find new ways to see happiness, new ways to see life.
The first thing you notice is the social gap between Philippe and Driss. The first one is so full of money he buys a 40 thousand euro painting without thinking. The other one doesn't know what he's going to eat for dinner. You can feel this social gap with your every cell. How judgemental are Philippe's friends and even his daughter. For all of them, for this high society Driss is a miserable and a dangerous cockroach, plaguing their lives. Yet what they cannot see is the great humanity behind Driss's mask of a harsh man. True, he has no pity for Philippe and his handicap. No pity is the key to what is going to change their lives. Its acceptance of what they really are. Both paralyzed in their miserable lives, finding an escape, helping each other.
The film goes beyond all the social stereotypes and unveils the true face of the French society with all its problems. I have to say the political aspect of the movie has a lot of weight now in the view of the presidential elections in France. Does it also talk about the illegal immigration and its consequences? Surely it does. Does it show us the problems we have to balance within our society? Yes, it does. Do we really need to stop cataloguing people into casts? Do we need to have more compassion? I leave these questions for you to think about.
The problem of the french self-identity (social, cultural, political and religious) has been widely discussed in the past few years. Yes, the country is going through a deep crisis, while its important values are in great danger. While a film is only a film, it can also help us to dream. Especially because sometimes dreams come true.
