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Les Visiteurs

Les Visiteurs

Movie · 1993 · 3 people

Jean-Marie Poiré directed the French fantasy comedy Les Visiteurs (The Visitors), released in France on 27 January 1993. Poiré wrote the screenplay with leading man Christian Clavier. It is among French cinema's most popular comedies and ranks fifth among the country's box-office hits.

The story opens in the twelfth century, when Count Godefroy de Montmirail and his servant Jacquouille turn to a wizard to put right a tragic mistake. The wizard errs, and instead of a few days back the pair are thrown forward by centuries to the end of the twentieth century. Jean Reno plays Godefroy, and Clavier plays both Jacquouille and his descendant Jacquart. Valérie Lemercier, Marie-Anne Chazel and Isabelle Nanty complete the cast. The comedy comes from two bewildered visitors adrift in modern society.

Made on a budget of about 50 million francs, it drew nearly 14 million viewers and was the top film at the French box office of 1993. Of eight César nominations it won one, Best Supporting Actress for Lemercier. Its open ending led to sequels in 1998, Les Couloirs du temps, and 2016, Les Visiteurs: La Révolution, and to an English-language remake in 2001. The modern-day scenes were shot at the Château d'Ermenonville and the medieval ones in Carcassonne.

DirectorJean-Marie Poiré
Production companyStudioCanal

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Cast

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Christian Clavier Christian Clavier Film actor · 74 years old Valérie Lemercier Valérie Lemercier Actor · 62 years old Michel Peyrelon Michel Peyrelon Actor · died at 66

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Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humour and heart.

Les Visiteurs is a good pick for a family laugh. A count and his servant flung from the Middle Ages into today, utterly bewildered by the modern world, is humour even children grasp easily. Jean Reno and Christian Clavier make a very funny pair. The humour can be crude and loud at times, though, which is worth knowing if you are watching with very young kids. From primary-school age up, it should suit most families.

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

Les Visiteurs turns time travel into a comedy of class. A twelfth-century count and his servant Jacquouille land at the end of the twentieth century in a completely different social order. Clavier playing both the servant and his descendant Jacquart can be read as a witty nod to how lineages and stations shift over the centuries. The film never turns this into real critique and is content with comedy born of bewilderment. Still, the fact that it drew nearly 14 million viewers in France and was the country's number-one film of 1993 shows how deeply this play on ancestry, tradition and modernity struck a chord with French audiences.

Action & Thriller Fan Puts pace, tension and set pieces first; little patience for slow drama.

Les Visiteurs is not an adventure film, but its pace is spot on. The wizard botches the job, the pair are hurled centuries ahead, and from then on the modern world piles shock upon shock. Jean Reno's stern knight and Clavier's craziness play off each other nicely. Some of the gags start repeating themselves after a while, which is a minus. Still, it is great fun for a light evening.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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