Mais où est donc passée la 7ème compagnie (1973) User Reviews

Amazing cross-lingual humour

[Mouldyman · 8/10 · 11 May 2005]

I was very impressed with the enduring humour of this film. I watched it in French in which I am not fluent but I still found this film very funny. The phrase 'J'ai glisse, chef' has entered my everyday vocabulary The film follows three hapless soldiers of the French army, who are cut off from the main body of their company by the invading Germans. Through incompetence, laziness and general uselessness they somehow manage to ride to glory and rescue their company.

Despite being thirty years old this film is still delightfully amusing. The French scenery is breathtaking, the characters lovable and the jokes simple enough for even someone who cannot totally understand French to comprehend. It reminded me very much of 'Dad's Army', it's a lighthearted romp through a potentially dangerous subject.

It is not a cinematic masterpiece. The characters are stereotypical idiots, bumbling around falling in rivers, losing their shoes. It is not a deep movie. The plot doesn't really make a lot of sense, and the direction is not memorable. But it was never aiming to be any of these things.

I would class this as a Sunday afternoon film, it's not serious and it's perfect to watch lazily on the sofa with a beer in your hand as Sunday lunch goes down.

The French War movie

[Criticalstaff · 8/10 · 23 February 2021]

This movie is brilliant and I loved it very much. It is brilliant because it has a funny slapstick comedy adventure plot, but also because it makes fun of the overall situation of the events, i.e. the Fall of France.

The theme of the movie is explicitly laid out in the opening; the German invasion of France was a terrible disaster for France, yet the French Army regards it as an orderly retreat. I found this incredibly clever. I could wax lyrical for hours on how subversively funny that is. Especially for a French movie. Especially for the seventies. Especially for a mainstream comedy.

For me that is basically the movie, in the first sequence everything is said out loud and exemplified with the HQ scene. The rest of the movie, through the adventure of the three soldiers is merely a careful exposé of all the different and various consequences and resulting scenarios. Of course always in a lighthearted tone and played for laughs. It is a tableau of WW2 in France, seen through a comedic lens.

In terms of plot, it means the movie centers on the actual military retreat. From the beginning, the war is lost, but our heroes do not know that and care even less. What is almost refreshing in terms of military drama is that these soldiers are mainly interested in very trivial concerns: when and what to eat, and where and when to rest. It is not about the ideology, the geo-politics, the nations, the country or the Army. It is not really about surviving either in the fashion of other great war movies like Das Boot. Is just about not being bothered. About taking a swim in the river and chasing rabbits. The movie juxtaposes these petty concerns with the huge conflict. It has that typically French, "theatre de Guignol" quality, where whatever happens it stays wholesome and devolves into slapstick and where the "weak" wins over the "strong" in a backward sort of way.

I loved all the various little vignettes the film shows. First, they meet with a rural family, the older peasant and his wife, which allows for a comment on WW1. Then the introduction of the Lieutenant is an opportunity to show the separation between the officers and the soldiers, how soldiers are common folk and the officers and airmen come from more privileged backgrounds. I regret that the movie did not go a bit further with this, and it doesn't really venture into social commentary, but it is still there. Then they meet a household where the men are absent, illustrating two types of womanhood confronted with the war; the mother and the wife. There is the perfidious shopkeeper, that is happier to do business with the invader than his compatriots. There is an extended sequence that is almost heart-wrenching when they stumbled upon a road of refugees trying to flee the combat area. These scenarios are incredibly genuine but they are also always devices for jokes or good lines.

And that is the brilliance of this film, it's not just good jokes about the war. It is good humour but with the purpose of going through the impact of these historical events on regular people in different situations. It a good comedy film, but it is also a good war film.

Is that the true story of the French defeat in 1940?

[searchanddestroy-1 · 6/10 · 27 December 2020]

I now pretty well the story of the second world war, especially concerning my own country. French defeat in 1940 was just a real shame and pain, suffering and disgrace for the whole nation. Equipment was far better than the German's one, including planes and tanks. French soldiers fought - for those who did - very bravely (so did some Italian troops on the Russian front) so PLEASE STOP THE CLICHES. JUST ONCE,OK? French army lost ONLY because of the headquarters and the chain of command, that still think the same way as in 1914-18. Do you know that the French Army headquarters in Vincennes Fort, had no radio, nor even telephone connection with the troops? Do you know that? Do you know that there was nearly no, of at the best clumsy communication between the troops? Do you know that? Germans, on the contrary, were MODERN in their way of fighting, they had a very good equipment - but not better than ours, rather a bit less - and especially very well trained. German officials and military heads were not the same as the French. So, back to this film, we can watch it as a pure amusement, but we never lose, what I just said, out of sight. Please, in memory for those who fought for France. And the braves who died.

Really happened? Well yes....

[maxcens · 10/10 · 4 January 2018]

The funny part about this movie is the attitude of french soldiers towards the war. France had suffered terribly during ww1 and there was no way that a 2nd Verdun would take place. Most great fighters were caught in Dunkerque and the rest was still waiting at the Maginot line. So what's left? A Hardware store manager, a slaughterhouse worker, a cleaner and one who leaves with his sister. Can they defend France against the invaders? Well yeah but not right now because it's lunch time an Pitivier broke his shoe! Lol. So yes, 10 stars.

French director Robert Lamoureux was inventive in showing that the French army's seventh company was in a safe zone !!!!

[FilmCriticLalitRao · 10/10 · 24 March 2015]

Most French films about war with German army portray it as an army full of stupid soldiers without any intelligence who are not attentive enough to catch French soldiers. French film "Mais où est donc passée la 7ème compagnie » is also a fine example of this tendency. The adventures of the seventh company of French army are extremely hilarious. They are always able to bring immense amount of laughter. One adventure is about how the seventh company manages to escape unhurt when the dead bodies of two German soldiers are lost due to sheer negligence. In a comic yet sensitive member viewers get to observe how some French people deal with less patriotic French folks during times of war. For this section, an ordinary grocer with considerable traces of treachery is taught a good lesson. Gaumont film production company is one of French cinema's most famous film studios. It was due to its strong backing that French director Robert Lamoureux was able to make three comedy films about war. French cinema's leading comic actors Jean Lefebvre and Pierre Mondy have starred in all three films. This three part film series began with the making of "Now Where Did the Seventh Company Get to ?" The most unique thing about this film is that it reveals the comical aspects of second world war.

How to make war 101

[buzzy_bob · 9/10 · 6 November 2021]

This movie is so innocent and funny! The main actors are really comedians of their time: simple, hilarious yet charismatic. No one and nothing here is to take seriously (as too many Hollywood or narcissist comedians and actors of today). The theme is dark and the french way of dealing with it is extremely delightful: laugh and gratitude instead of suffering and despair. Some French people learned from the stupid thing that is war and that it is a game of corrupt governments, so they try to live as fully as possible. Fortunately, most of French care about their country and didn't fall on treason of joining the dictatorship of Vichy Government, as an hilarious scene in the movie shows.

By my review, you'll already guess there's a lot of chilchés: french are simple, revolutionaries and fight enjoying life as the Germans just follow orders. But stereotypes are always based on some truth.

Of course, this whole description is about movie. A lot of good soldiers died in both parts, in vain, just for the vanity of their highest superior who always survive. May they rest in peace.