''L'emmerdeur'' (literally ''The Troublemaker'', with the English title of ''A Pain in the Ass'', often promoted as ''A Pain in the A__'') is a 1973 French-Italian black comedy film starring

Jacques Brel Jacques Romain Georges Brel (, ; 8 April 1929 – 9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer and actor who composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, l ...

, appearing in his tenth and final feature film. Directed by

Édouard Molinaro Édouard Molinaro (13 May 1928 – 7 December 2013) was a French film director and screenwriter. Biography He was born in Bordeaux, Gironde. He is best known for his comedies with Louis de Funès ('' Oscar'', ''Hibernatus''), ''My Uncle Benja ...

and co-starring

Lino Ventura Angiolino Giuseppe Pasquale Ventura (14 July 1919 – 22 October 1987), known as Lino Ventura, was an Italian actor who grew up in France and starred in many French films. Born in Italy, he was raised in Paris by his mother. After a first caree ...

Caroline Cellier Caroline Cellier (7 August 1945 – 15 December 2020) was a French actress. She appeared in such films as ''L'année des méduses'' (''Year of the Jellyfish''), '' La vie, l'amour, la mort'', ''Le zèbre'' and '. Personal life She married ...

, and Jean-Pierre Darras, ''L'emmerdeur'' is an adaptation of

Francis Veber Francis Paul Veber (born 28 July 1937) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer, and playwright. He has written and directed both French and American films. Nine French-language films with which he has been involved, as either writer ...

's 1971 play ''Le contrat''.

Plot

Ralph Milan is a contract killer who is paid to kill Louis Randoni, whose testimony in various trials could harm the organisation. Ralph waits for his prey in his hotel room, but is interrupted by his comical neighbour, a shirt salesman named François Pignon (Jacques Brel). Pignon, who is suicidal since his wife left him for a reputed psychiatrist named Fuchs (Jean-Pierre Darras), tries to hang himself on the waterpipes, but only manages to cause a flood. Realizing that if Pignon tries to kill himself again the police will search the place, Milan offers to talk him out of it until after his assassination. Unfortunately Pignon starts irritating him more, and makes it more difficult for him to fulfill his

contract killing Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may b ...

Cast

as François Pignon *

as Ralf Milan *

as Louise Pignon *

Jean-Pierre Darras Jean-Pierre Darras (1927–1999) was a French actor. Filmography 1927 births 1999 deaths Deaths from cancer in France French film directors French monarchists Male actors from Paris People from Val-de-Marne French male film actors ...

as Fuchs *

Nino Castelnuovo Francesco "Nino" Castelnuovo (28 October 1936 – 6 September 2021) was an Italian actor of film, stage and television, best known for his starring role as Guy Foucher in the French musical film ''The Umbrellas of Cherbourg'' (1964). Castelnu ...

as The bellhop * Angela Cardile as The future mother *

Xavier Depraz Xavier Depraz, ''né'' Xavier Marcel Delaruelle (22 April 1926 – 18 October 1994) was a French opera singer and actor. Life Born in Albert (Somme), Depraz was a bass at the Paris Opéra until 1971. He took part in the premieres of operas by ...

as Louis Randoni * Jean-Louis Tristan as The hotel inspector *

André Valardy André Valardy (born André Knoblauch, '17 May 1938 – 30 April 2007) was a Belgian actor, director and humorist A humorist (American) or humourist (British spelling) is an intellectual who uses humor, or wit, in writing or public speakin ...

as The hitchhiker * Jean Franval as The hitchhiker *

Pierre Collet Pierre Collet (10 March 1914 – 30 October 1977) was a French film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films and television shows between 1943 and 1977. Selected filmography * ''Goodbye Leonard'' (1943) - Le marchand d'habits (uncredite ...

as The butcher * Arlette Balkis as The patient * Éric Vasberg as The rally pilot * Jacques Galland as Maître Chamfort *

François Dyrek François Dyrek (16 August 1933 – 17 December 1999) was a French actor. He appeared in more than 140 films and television shows between 1964 and 1999. Partial filmography * ''L'assassin viendra ce soir'' (1964) - Un membre du gang des po ...

Remakes

The film was remade in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

in 1981 as ''

Buddy Buddy ''Buddy Buddy'' is a 1981 American comedy film based on Francis Veber's play ''Le contrat'' and Édouard Molinaro's film ''L'emmerdeur''. It was the final film directed and written by Billy Wilder. Plot Hitman Trabucco eliminates two witnesses ag ...

'' by

Billy Wilder Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-American filmmaker. His career in Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Classic Holl ...

, starring

Jack Lemmon John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered equally proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, Lemmon was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in dramedy pictures, leadin ...

and

Walter Matthau Walter Matthau (; born Walter John Matthow; October 1, 1920 – July 1, 2000) was an American actor, comedian and film director. He is best known for his film roles in '' A Face in the Crowd'' (1957), '' King Creole'' (1958) and as a coach of a ...

. The film was remade in France in 2008 as ''L' Emmerdeur'' starring

Patrick Timsit Patrick Timsit () is a French comedian, writer and film director. He has been nominated for four César Awards – three times as an actor and once as a writer. He is best known for the French comedy ''Un indien dans la ville''. In 2006, he pa ...

and Richard Berry. Neither remake was well received and the 2008 version was a conspicuous disaster, attracting derisory audiences. The film also remade in Turkish as ''Baş Belası'' in 1982 directed by

Kartal Tibet Kartal Tibet (27 March 1939 – 1 July 2021) was a Turkish actor and film director. Some of his famous films include ''Ölmeyen Aşk'', ''Dağlar Kızı'', ''Senede Bir Gün'', ''Sultan'', ''Zübük'', ''Gol Kralı'', and '' Şalvar Davası''. T ...

. A remake in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...

called ''

Bumboo ''Bumboo'' () is a 2012 Bollywood black comedy film directed by Jagdish Rajpurohit. ''Bumboo'' is based on an original play/film '' L'emmerdeur'' written by Francis Veber.The film stars Sharat Saxena, Sanjay Mishra, Kavin Dave and Mandy Takhar ...

'' was released in 2012.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Emmerdeur, L' 1973 films Belgian black comedy films Italian black comedy films Italian buddy comedy films French buddy comedy films Films directed by Édouard Molinaro Films shot in France Films set in France French films based on plays 1970s French-language films 1970s buddy comedy films 1970s black comedy films French black comedy films Films about contract killing Jacques Brel 1973 comedy films 1973 drama films 1970s Italian films 1970s French films