"Les Compères" marks the second partnership between Gérard Depardieu and Pierre Richard in a Francis Veber film and while less funny than "The Goat" and less emotional than "The Fugitives", I have a soft spot for this film and consider it my favorite of the trilogy.
Maybe it's because it was my first Veber-Richard-Depardieu film, maybe it's this beautiful theme from the master Vladimir Cosma, a little tune that invites us to hug life and trust our spirit. Maybe because it features two actors at the top of their game: Depardieu is tough but some subtle moments betray a sensitive heart, while Richard is as clumsy and dreamy as ever, but not without some moral strength. I guess it's because the movie is all these things and even more, it told me something I could relate to, as a son, as a guy who wants his future son to be an alter-ego who wouldn't commit the same mistakes. The film, behind its comical undertone, is an endearing fable of two men embracing fatherhood like an exciting thrill that enriches one man's life.
Pride and responsibility, love and authority
Veber finds the perfect dialog and the perfect actions to illustrate the many facets of fatherhood. After "The Toy", and "The Goat" which proved to be commercial successes, Veber's writing and directing talent shows again in "The Compères" starting with the premise. The film opens with a young teen-ager hitch-hiking toward the South of France with his girlfriend. They're young, good-looking, we'd take it dramatically if the music wasn't playing, conveying a false sense of free-spiritedness. As much as I love the music, and as I find the opening scene relevant, the combination of both creates an awkward feel, except if it's used to express a sensation of melancholy and uneasiness through the kid's act.
The first scene reveals his identity, his name is Tristan, he's 16 and ran away from home. His mother (Anny Duperey) is very concerned and tries to collect information from police and from the girlfriend's father, without much result, the father, remarkably played by Michel Aumont (another regular from Veber films) is one of these decent guys who lacks the 'wild side' that can help sometimes, he's not a tough guy like Depardieu or a tortured soul like Richard, and seems to have the bad role of the 'average schmuck' in the beginning. The story begins when the mother has a strange idea; she meets Jean Lucas, Depardieu, one of her youth's love and tell him that Tristan is his son, so he would feel responsible enough to find him. Showing reluctance first, he finally accepts to help when given the opportunity of an investigation in Nice that would finally prove a politician's connection with the mob. He's already persona non grata in the town after an incendiary article against the local Mafioso.
Meanwhile, the mother had the same idea with Pierre Richard, François Pignon, a depressive guy at the verge of committing suicide. Having found at least a meaning to his life, Pignon naturally accepts to help. The film's first comedic moments are driven by the way Lucas and Richard try to find similarities between them and Tristan, when given the photo, they can't hide their disappointment because he obviously doesn't look like them, but when their paths cross in Nice, you can feel their pride when they talk about Tristan. The qui pro quo is both poignant and funny; it's sad because we know they're not the fathers, and yet we accept the eventuality and funny because each one reads in Tristan's personality: where Lucas sees strength and rebellion, Pignon sees a dreamer, an idealistic soul. The two men are both different in personalities, but this time, they have something in common, and that's why I prefer this Depardieu and Richard duo..
The cat-and-mouse between Tristan and his two fathers, spiced up by the involvement of the mob, lead to a series of comical situations from Pignon's outburst of laughs when he was told to cry, to Lucas teaching Pignon how to hit with a head. Finally, we discover Tristan, a kid who probably left his house, because he was tired of his father's lack of personality (like James Dean in "Rebel Without a Cause") and ironically, he had such a hard time in the film that he needed not just one father, but two. When he cried over his break-up, Lucas told him to stop because he's a man, while Pignon let him go on, it doesn't matter who's right or wrong. A father doesn't necessarily give the right advice, but he gives the one he feels the righter.
And while the two protagonists discover that being a father is a full-time job, Tristan realizes that if two men want to be his dad, than the real one is to be valued. It was a beautiful touch to have this final discussion between Tristan and his father, instead of the mother. All is well that ends well, and the film ends in an extraordinary poignancy when Tristan told each of Lucas and Pignon that they are the real father, Depardieu's reaction was extraordinarily. Why did he do this since they'll end up knowing the truth? I guess it's because he understood their happiness over the idea of being fathers, and if he could let them share this happiness even for a brief time. It's worth the coming disappointment.
There's a bittersweet feeling in the ending but it's still the perfect note of optimism to conclude this beautiful story with the two smiling men and the kid holding them and asking them when Father's Day is, and then the beautiful music from Vladimir Cosma starts again. Indeed, "Les Compères" is one of these films to watch during Father's Day.
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