The name? La Bath, Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath. The suits? Sleek, smart and the best that post-war France has to offer in terms of menswear. The world view? The, er, most common among men his age that post-war France had to offer. So of course the best in the whole wide world ! Played for a few years by writer Jean Bruce James Bond created Oscar winner Jean Dujardin’s secret agent, but only gained international popularity in the course of the Bond mania.
And that since 2006, when “The artistDirector Michel Hazanavicius took the franchise out of the box and revived it as a parody. The Dujardin/Hazanavicius duo achieved cult success, which was ingeniously dubbed by Oliver Kalkofe. Today, July 10, 2023, runs with “Greetings from Africa” the third part of the series on TV – from 10.15 pm on ZDF!
Despite behind-the-scenes changes, it picks up seamlessly where the delightfully smashing first two movies left off! If you have the taste: all three parts of the 007 parody are available as a complete set.
This is “OSS 117”
Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath aka OSS 117 is an ideological relic of days gone by and an idiot in the field. But with irrepressible charisma, crazy luck and a handful of timeless tricks that he can master in his sleep, the ancient warhorse survives. No matter how much the world progresses around him. He went on a mission to Cairo in 1955 and grinned at the winning side, though he couldn’t be more ignorant of the French colonial misdeeds and Muslim sensibilities. He then braved an international crisis in Rio in the 1960s, even as he made one misogynist, anti-Semitic and anti-Asian faux pas after another.
Now it’s the 1980s and this time Africa has to watch out for him… After the first two “OSS 117” films, Hazanavicius hands over the director’s chair to his colleague Nicolas Bedos (“The Most Beautiful Time of Our Lives”) , but that’s “With Love from Africa” in the best sense of the word not to be noticed: the three parodies of the classic “James Bond” films, blind patriotism, spy movie clichés and outdated pop culture stories and stylistic conventions are all from the same cloth – and (sometimes outrageously) hilarious!
Tribute and deconstruction at the same time: that’s why I love “OSS 117”
I think the OSS 117 movies work so well because they are completely blunt, in both directions. On the one hand, Hazanavicius and Bedos pursue their love for the inspirations of these films without false embarrassment. From the naive globetrotter romanticism that has shaped cop fiction in literature and film for decades, to the elegance and eccentricity of the men’s and women’s fashions of the past, to the aesthetics of past cop, adventure and action cinema. The love for “James Bond” and co. literally drips from the “OSS 117” movies.
But just as blatantly the embarrassing, annoying, ignorant or simply heavily outdated aspects are taunted. But not with a foreseeable moralizing finger – but in form meticulous, repeatedly unexpected deconstruction: The flirting statements come a little too sharp from La Bath’s lips. The blinkers on the mistakes of the West’s foreign policy are a little tighter than in the drafts and therefore cause headaches. And pride in serving one’s country is stressed too nervously to develop genre-typical pathos.
And above all: Jean Dujardin’s “gentleman” agent finds himself again Good. He prolongs the dramatic pause after a mocking remark such that he exposes himself. And his mischievous laugh lasts way, way, way too long. At the expense of his uncomplicated attitude, but to the delight of the audience. Than Dujardin’s stupid arrogant laugh is forbiddenly funny – and almost inimitable. But luckily alone …
In Germany, the films “OSS 117” are given a passionate, clever, idiosyncratic synchro transfer. In the mr. “SchleFaZ” stars Oliver Kalkofe led by synchro veteran Frank Schaff with a beautiful rendition that showcases Dujardin’s slimy-friendly-silly charm as La Bath clearly translated into German.
Incidentally, the goals of the synchro’s so amusingly “calcified” mockery of “OSS 117: From Africa with Love” include France’s handling of its former colonies, 1980s “Miami Vice” branded action heroes and of course again Bond, James Bond. Anyone who needs a cheerful distraction with a satirical bite after the dramatic “No time to die” will find it in France…