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''Welcome to the Sticks'' (, ) is a 2008 French
comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...
directed and co-written by Dany Boon and starring
Kad Merad Kad Merad (born Kaddour Merad, ; 27 March 1964) is a French-Algerian writer and actor. Life and career Kad Merad was born in Sidi Bel Abbès, Algeria, on 27 March 1964 to an Algerian father and a French mother. During his teens, he played d ...
and Boon himself. The film is the highest-grossing French film of all time at the
box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicket. ...
in France.


Plot

Philippe Abrams is the manager of the French
post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...
('' La Poste'') branch in
Salon-de-Provence Salon-de-Provence (, ; or , ), commonly known as Salon, is a commune located about northwest of Marseille in the Bouches-du-Rhône department (Metropolis of Aix-Marseille Provence), region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Southern France. It ...
,
Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( ; , ; ; "the Mouths of the Rhône") is a Departments of France, department in southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var (department), Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the sout ...
, in southern France. He is married to Julie, whose negative character makes his life miserable. Philippe does everything to get a job at an office in Sanary-sur-Mer, on the Mediterranean coast, to make her happy. As it is perceived that the position will be acquired more easily if one is disabled, Abrams pretends that he is disabled – and is found out by the management. As punishment, he is banished for two years to
Bergues Bergues (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department in northern France. It is situated to the south of Dunkirk and from the Belgium, Belgian border. Locally it is referred to ...
, a town near
Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...
in northern
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. Northern France – and the
Nord-Pas-de-Calais Nord-Pas-de-Calais (; ; West Flemish: ''Nôord-Nauw van Kales'') was a former regions of France, administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new Regions of France, region Hauts-de-France. It consisted of the ...
region in particular – is considered "the sticks" – a cold and rainy place inhabited by unsophisticated ''ch'tis'' who speak a strange dialect (called " ''ch'ti'' in local parlance, and "''cheutimi'' in the South). He has to spend his first night at the home of Antoine, a member of his staff who happens to live there. Philippe initially dislikes Antoine for his obnoxious behavior and because he initially thinks Antoine is gay (due to seeing pictures of him
crossdressing Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes traditionally or stereotypically associated with a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and express onesel ...
), but later Philippe finds out that Antoine worked for a carnival for time (where he did impressions of numerous people, men and women alike) and that he secretly has a crush on Annabelle, one of the workers at the post office. Antoine and Philippe subsequently become best friends. To Philippe's surprise, Bergues proves to be a charming place teeming with warm, friendly people and co-workers. Soon, he is completely won over, eating strong-smelling Maroilles cheese; talking to virtually every local (by delivering their mail, and accepting the recipients' invitation for a drink); playing at the beach; playing the
carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a musical keyboard, keyboard and consists of at least 23 bells. The bells are Bellfounding, cast in Bell metal, bronze, hung in fixed suspension, and Musical tuning, tu ...
at the
bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...
together, drinking beer like a local, going to an
RC Lens Racing Club de Lens (), commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply as Lens, is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the department of Pas-de-Calais. The club's nickname, ''Les Sang et Or'' (), comes from i ...
football match and so forth. He tries to describe the happy turn of events to his wife who has remained in the South with their young son, but she does not believe him. This inspires Philippe to tell her what she wants to believe; that his life is wretched there. Everything goes fine until Julie decides to join him in the North to relieve his gloom. Philippe is forced to confess to his new friends and colleagues that he has described them as barbarians to his wife. First, they are angry, but they then decide to help him by behaving as such to cover for his lies and to scare Julie so she will depart quickly. They also let her stay in the old mining village near Bergues, pretending it is the main town. Julie has a very bad weekend, but decides she will move to Bergues to stay with Philippe, to be supportive. Just when she's ready to go back south, she discovers that she has been tricked when a local tells Julie that the actual town of Bergues is several kilometers away. When Philippe finds Julie at his real Bergues home, he tells her the truth about the happiness and friendship that the town has brought him. Julie is disappointed at first, but after realising her husband is happy, she decides to move north to be with him. Meanwhile, Antoine and Annabelle had been dating for over a year, but had broken up due to Antoine's passiveness towards his overbearing mother. Despite their split, Antoine still has feelings for Annabelle, who now has a new boyfriend. Upon learning this, Antoine cheers himself up by drinking alcohol during his work hours and behaves in an erratic manner. When Philippe urges Antoine to take courage and be
assertive Assertiveness is the quality of being self-assured and confident without being aggressive to defend a right point of view or a relevant statement. In the field of psychology and psychotherapy, it is a skill that can be learned and a mode of communi ...
, Antoine finally confesses to his mother that he loves Annabelle and is planning to move to a new place with her. Unexpectedly, his mother is happy about it – she has waited all these years for Antoine to stand up for himself. As a result, Antoine proposes to Annabelle by the bell tower when it is playing a Stevie Wonder song. Annabelle accepts, and they get married. Three years later, Philippe receives a transfer to move to Porquerolles on the Mediterranean coast. Accepting the offer, Philippe and his family move south. Just as he is about to say goodbye, he is reduced to tears, proving Antoine's theory on the Ch'tis proverb ("A visitor brays riestwice up north; once on his arrival and once at his departure").


Cast

*
Kad Merad Kad Merad (born Kaddour Merad, ; 27 March 1964) is a French-Algerian writer and actor. Life and career Kad Merad was born in Sidi Bel Abbès, Algeria, on 27 March 1964 to an Algerian father and a French mother. During his teens, he played d ...
as Philippe Abrams, Head of the local post office * Dany Boon as Antoine Bailleul, postman and
carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a musical keyboard, keyboard and consists of at least 23 bells. The bells are Bellfounding, cast in Bell metal, bronze, hung in fixed suspension, and Musical tuning, tu ...
performer * Zoé Félix as Julie, spouse of Philippe Abrams * Lorenzo Ausilia-Foret as Raphaël Abrams *
Anne Marivin Anne Marivin (born 23 January 1974) is a French actress. She has appeared in more than fifty film and television productions since 1994. Marivin was noticed in television appearances such as ''Tel père, tel flic'' (2001) and ''Père et Maire'' ...
as Annabelle Deconninck *
Philippe Duquesne Philippe Duquesne (born 30 June 1965) is a French actor. Career He is best known for playing in the cult TV series '' Les Deschiens'' (1993–2002). In 2004, after the end of the show on Canal+, Yolande Moreau, his partner on screen, hired ...
as Fabrice Canoli * Guy Lecluyse as Yann Vandernoout * Patrick Bosso as Policeman on A7 *
Zinedine Soualem Zinedine Soualem (born 17 April 1957) is a French actor. He has appeared in at least five films directed by Cédric Klapisch. Personal life Soualem is Algerian by ancestry, and was at one point married to the actress Hiam Abbass Hiam Abb ...
as Momo *
Jérôme Commandeur Jérôme Commandeur (born 12 April 1976) is a French comedian, actor and director. Early life and education Jérôme Commandeur was born in Argenteuil and grew up in Poissy. He attended the Lycée International de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. He ...
as Inspector Lebic * Line Renaud as Antoine's mother * Michel Galabru as Julie's uncle * Stéphane Freiss as Jean * Alexandre Carrière as Tony * Jenny Clève as The old lady who sings the P'tit quinquin (Northern French hymn) * Fred Personne as M. Vasseur * Nadège Beausson-Diagne as The employee


Reception

The film received generally positive reviews, with 6 out of 9 reviews on
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
being positive. The film has grossed US$192,928,551 in the box office in France alone.


Awards and nominations

*
César Award Cesar or César may refer to: Arts and entertainment * César (film), ''César'' (film), a 1936 French romantic drama * César (film), ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt Places * Cesar, Portugal * Cesar Department, Colombia * Cesar R ...
s: nominated for
Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...
(Maxime Quoilin) *
European Film Awards The European Film Awards (or European Film Academy Awards) have been presented annually since 1988 by the European Film Academy to recognize excellence in European cinematic achievements. The awards are given in 19 categories, of which the mos ...
: nominated for Audience Award of the Best Film * London's Favourite French Film 2008: Best Film Award


Remakes

An
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same s ...
, ''
Benvenuti al Sud ''Benvenuti al Sud'' () is a 2010 comedy film directed by Luca Miniero and a remake of the 2008 French film ''Welcome to the Sticks''. The film was dedicated to Angelo Vassallo, an Italian mayor murdered for his anti-crime campaign.
'' ("Welcome to the South"), was produced and released by
Medusa Film Medusa Film S.p.A. is an Italian film production and distribution company owned by Mediaset. It is one of the top film producers and distributors in the country. History Medusa Distribuzione S.p.A. was founded by Felice Colaiacono and Franco Po ...
in 2010. The plot was similar to the original: Alberto ( Claudio Bisio), the manager of a
Poste Italiane Poste Italiane (, , abbr. PT) is the Italy, Italian postal service provider. Besides providing postal services, Poste Italiane offers communications, Postal savings system, postal savings products, logistics, and Financial services, financial a ...
office in
Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...
is banished for two years to Castellabate, a small town in
Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...
. Dany Boon appeared in a cameo. Unlike the French original, the Italian franchise led to a sequel: '' Benvenuti al Nord'' ("Welcome to the North"; 2012). In 2017, the Dutch remake ''Weg van jou'' (a play on words that both means 'away from you' and 'smitten with you') ran in Dutch theatres. In this remake, city slicker Evi gets relocated from metropolitan and cosmopolitan Rotterdam to the rural Dutch province of Zeeland. In Zeeland, while away from her stuck-up boyfriend, she gets smitten with a local man. Negotiations regarding a proposed English version of the film were officially abandoned in 2015. As early as 2008,
Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, rapper, and film producer. Known for his work in both Will Smith filmography, the screen and Will Smith discography, music industries, List of awards and nominations re ...
was negotiating with Dany Boon regarding a remake; the US film was to be called ''Welcome to the Sticks''. While few other details were revealed, there were suggestions that the plot would revolve around a
multinational company A multinational corporation (MNC; also called a multinational enterprise (MNE), transnational enterprise (TNE), transnational corporation (TNC), international corporation, or stateless corporation, is a corporate organization that owns and cont ...
, rather than
US Mail The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...
.


Soundtrack

The CD soundtrack, including the scores of '' La Maison du Bonheur'' and '' Nothing to Declare'', were all composed by Philippe Rombi.


Notes


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Welcome To The Sticks 2008 comedy films 2008 films French comedy films 2000s French-language films Films directed by Dany Boon Films set in France Films shot in France Pathé films Films produced by Claude Berri Films about postal systems Picard language 2000s French films Films scored by Philippe Rombi