"Cultural Collision and Collusion"
| None | Light | Moderate | Heavy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Language | ||||
| Violence | ||||
| Sex | ||||
| Nudity |
Watch:
What You Need To Know:
While it enjoyably makes its statement about family, racism and culture, THE CHATEAU ultimately suffers from poor picture quality, countless obscenities and profanities, a pagan New Age worldview, and a vague, ungodly sense of justice
Content:
(PaPa, FRFR, LLL, S, N, AA, D, MM) Pagan, pseudo-spiritual, New Age worldview with memorial service held before a miniature Buddhist shrine, reference to THE CELESTINE PROPHECY and that it says that everything happens for a reason . . .there are no coincidences used in the context of trying to seduce a pretty French maid, and rather than invoking the name of God, one of the main characters waxes spiritual by saying that their experience was, “something the universe wanted us to see and leave alone”; more than 50 obscenities and profanities; no violence; man speaks of plans to fornicate with or, “love the ladies in France,” frank discussion of man’s business in products for male sexual dysfunction, two men have a few too many drinks and make a young woman dance with them, man tells friend on phone he may get to fornicate with a woman at the château, man verbally tries to seduce a woman but she politely declines, and man admits to fathering child out of wedlock; upper male nudity when man runs around the house and then outdoors in only his tight jockey underwear in a comedic context because he’s trying to find a cell phone signal; alcohol use and drunkenness; smoking; and, insurance fraud, many references to man being kind of loopy, in therapy and relying heavily upon his therapist, and drunken man stomps into room and spews angry, racist words toward his adopted black brother and the French staff, but repents somewhat later and his brother forgives him, telling him that it may have been his best therapeutic exercise yet.
More Detail:
THE CHATEAU is an enjoyable comedy with decent laughs and a few plot twists. Yet, it ultimately suffers from poor picture quality, countless obscenities and profanities, and a vague, ungodly sense of justice.
It begins with a funeral, of sorts, before a tiny Buddhist shrine. Evidently, the master of the house, Count Jacques Granville (Didier Flamand), has died leaving the grieving staff to fend for itself. In the meantime, two American brothers, Graham Granville (Phil Rudd) and his adopted black brother Allen, a.k.a. Rex (Romany Malco), are traveling to the chateau with papers that bequeath the huge building to them. They intend to sell the home, split the money and live happily ever after.
Upon arrival at their new property, they make an awkward entrance. The staff obviously wasn’t expecting them and seems very disturbed that they have come to take over the house.
The funniest scenes in this comedy involve the American brothers trying to communicate with the French staff. Cultural presumptions and failed attempts at speaking French make for lots of fun as we read the subtitles of what is really being said as the intruders utter “Franquish.”
The men quickly discover that the chateau is a money pit and decide the quicker they can sell it the better. The brothers announce to the staff that they are going to sell the home. The staff’s responds in fury. How can they walk in there, unannounced, and so casually uproot people who have given their lives to the upkeep of this property?
Graham, the more insecure of the brothers, quickly promises not to allow anyone to buy the chateau without agreeing to take the staff too. This launches the movie into a new set of comedic shenanigans performed by the staff to keep potential buyers from purchasing the home.
As housekeeping holds secret nightly meetings on how to foil the sale, they mention something about the possibility of missing out on the insurance money. It seems they were expecting a big pay off after the Americans’ uncle died. Did they kill him?
One of the more interesting subplots involves the brothers’ rivalry for the love of the seemingly naive, pretty young maid, Isabelle (Sylvie Testud). She has a child and won’t divulge who the father is. Isabelle has grown up serving at the Château and has never been anywhere else. She dreams of seeing Barcelona based upon some paintings she admires. She has even been seen and heard arguing heatedly with the butler, Jean. Could Jean be the child’s father?
Both Graham and Rex, in their own ways, challenge and encourage Isabelle to leave the property and live her dream. It seems, however, that, though she is most attracted to Rex, she has a reason to resist any kind of romantic attachment. What is it that keeps her at the chateau?
Meanwhile, Rex has caught on to the staff’s sabotage scheme. He basically calls off the deal Graham made with them and says that when the house sells they are all fired.
One night Graham is both fed up with the staff’s antics to keep the house and jealous that his brother has seemed to win Isabelle’s affections. In a drunken tirade, he spews out enough ignorant cultural venom to cover everyone and then spends the night wishing he could take it all back. He apologizes to his brother Rex saying that he can deal with all of France hating him, but not his own brother. Rex forgives him and says that the explosion was probably Graham’s best therapy session ever.
One of the few twists in the movie comes when Rex has finally convinced a friend from the U.S. to buy the chateau. The butler, realizing that the end is near, calls the brothers into his office and reveals himself as their uncle: the Count Jacques Granville. He faked his death because the upkeep on the property was breaking him, and he needed the insurance money to maintain the lives of he and his staff. He never suspected that family would show up to claim the chateau and sell it, let alone prideful and crass American relatives.
The Count explains that he and his staff figured that keeping his nephews from selling the house would force them to use their own money to support them. They are Americans after all, so they must be rich. He then solemnly rebukes them for coming to France thinking they could disregard centuries of French tradition and culture, and disrespect their language!
These last two events embody the film’s main theme. Not only is there a collision of two cultures, but it also addresses the question of how people of the same blood work through the conflict born from the attitudes and ignorance inherent in their respective differing cultures.
Though the resolution to the conflict is contrived and lacks any power of conviction, at least the movie errs on the side of trying to foster respect for family and other cultures. Whether “family” meaning by blood, the American brothers and their uncle, or “family” meaning those who’ve been a part of your life forever, as in the relationship between the uncle and his staff.
However, no one bats an eye at the deception and fraud of the Count and his staff. This is deplorable. Regardless that this is a comedy and the whole situation is a fantasy, a good family film would either deliver a redemptive message, or, at least, examine the consequences of the characters’ actions. Instead, by a couple more plot twists, everything returns to the Count’s original intent. One of the brothers waxes spiritual by saying maybe this is “something the universe wanted us to see and leave alone.”
In contrast to this stated belief, there exists a personal God. He has standards and principles He expects us to obey. We are not just part of some nebulous universe that would let us, at our discretion, get away with fraud and theft.
- Content: -2Share:
- Content: -2