The Closet aka Le placard [DVD] [2001] [2017]

A lighthearted method to learning some French is to watch film.

This film is simply charming. It's a delight - and having to read the subtitles somehow adds to it's charm. I put off watching for a long time simply because of the 'pain' of the subtitles - but I was completely wrong.A strong warning however is required. This has not played on any of my family's DVD players - and on only one of mine. Why this is beats me as the film is Region 2, Pal etc. For this reason, and for this reason only, I have not bought multiple copies to circulate to my friends.Feb 2014. I watched this again last night after few annoying days at work. It really lifted my spirits. It is a wonderful movie, full of wit and charm, gentleness and kindness (as the plot resolves!) It deals humorously with the unacceptable behaviours of prejudice (racism and homophobia) but is more a comedic examination of what people's perceptions and imaginations can do to mess with their lives. When we fail to perceive the riches and depths of other people's character - we miss out on the treasure within them.To have Gerard Depardieu as a homophobic and racist Personnel Manager was an absolute delight. But if he asks you to try out for the rugby team, say, "No!"[DVD played on my Apple computer but not on the domestic DVD player - there is clearly an issue with the formatting of this disc.]

The French seem to do these comedies about human behaviour with just the right touch. No CGI;no guns; no car chases; no long shots of planes touching down; no blood and guts; no constant swearing. Through light humour some good issues are exposed- how homosexuals are treated; how far would you go to save your job; how much humiliation from your co-workers will you accept; how much emasculation from your wife will you absorb; how much disrespect from your child etc How to handle all this, and come out on top?It is an amusing and interesting journey told with compassion and wry humour. This is the antithesis of an American film where the same story would have resulted with the main character either suing everybody in court or bringing a machine gun to work and killing everybody.Humour wins in this French film.

This is one of the funniest films I've ever seen. I've watched it a few times in the past and it never fails to make me laugh out loud. A great way to cheer oneself up if life gets you down. This film was originally released in 2002 and social attitudes have changed somewhat since its release. However, the subject of the film is about a rather meek, divorced accountant, who has been singled out for redundancy in his firm. He is devastated, because he won't be able to meet his wife's alimony payments and will lose contact with his child. A friendly, gay neighbour suggests that he uses the strategy of employment discrimination, by "coming out of the closet". This is in fact not true, but the tactic works, because the firm does not want to be perceived as being homophobic. Daniel Auteuil and Gerard Depardieu star.

This is a French film with English subtitles. The French is a bit fast and I can only pick up the occasional word but the story line and performances are great. The central character, Monsieur Pignon, is divorced with a teenage son who ignores him. At the start of the film Pignon learns he is about to lose his job so that makes him suicidal. By the end of the film everything is turned around for him - he has a new, attractive girlfriend and his son thinks he is cool. The events in between are hilarious. I have watched it many times and enjoy it every time.

I purchased this film after having first watched this movie some years ago on LoveFilm.I was so glad to have found it again on Amazon.Daniel Auteuil is brilliant, you won’t stop laughing!

I would have given this 5 stars if it had been adequately subtitled. I saw this film years ago and the subtitling was much better Same experience with Le Concert! Are thos concerned cutting costs or has the knowledge of the languages concerned deteriorated? The Concert [DVD]I would have given this product a 5 star, otherwise. It seems you take a chance and you pays your money! Pity!

This is one of the funniest films I have ever seen. I am a fan of Daniel Auteuil and Gerard Depardieu and they excel in this comedy. Social satire at its best! Dare I say that I'm amazed the French could be this humorous?

A+

Le film le placard que vous m'avez envoyés est incompatible avec ma régionalors je ne peux pas le faire jouerIl peut jouer seulement en France !Alors je donne 0 étoile

François Pignon, un homme au costume sombre et à l'allure discrète, est comptable dans une usine de caoutchouc, dont le secteur privilégié est le préservatif.Il est sur le point d'être licencié, lorsque sur les conseils de Belon, son voisin d'immeuble, il propage la rumeur selon laquelle il est homosexuel. Suite à cette nouvelle, les cadres de la direction décident de garder Pignon pour des raisons "politiquement correctes".Celui-ci passe brusquement pour un marginal, bien qu'il n'ait rien changé à son comportement. C'est le regard des autres qui va s'en trouver modifié.Pauvre François Pignon , qui a été « à deux doigts du suicide » ,parce que pour lui c'est l'échec complet, sa femme l'ayant quitté, son fils ,adolescent qui est plus que distant avec son Père et en plus de tout cela la perte de son emploi. Le fait de se déclarer homosexuel le protège, ce qui ne veut pas dire qu'il ne doit pas se battre afin de garder sa dignité .Le chef du personnel ( Gérard Depardieu ) macho, et rustre le méprise et le traite de « pédé » devant les autres collègues. Il n'y a rien de plus mesquin et vil que la rumeur méchante qui peut « cataloguer » un homme que l'on ne connait pas. La chef comptable la belle Françoise Laroche s'aperçoit que François n'est pas homosexuel et qu'il se présente comme tel pour se protéger. Un soir, après un « pot » offert pour une promotion ils se trouvent tous deux seuls et connaissent un instant d'amour passionné. Bref ! Je ne peux décrire ce très bon film qui est vraiment digne d'intérêt, il faut le voir afin de passer un excellent moment

How much of your life is what you make of it, or what others make of it for you?Ms Pignon (Daniel Auteil from Jean de Florette) is a mousy, grey, drab accountant,working in a condom factory, that can't even get in the company picture. He finds, while in the bathroom from the chief of personnel (Gerarad Depardieu)that he will be laid off. Depardieu is also the coach of the company rugby team, a homophobic macho maniac.Everybody seems to know that he's getting canned but him.While trying to kill himself by jumping off a window, his new neighbor stops him. "It's my car down there, you'll wreck the roof" His neighbor, an industrial psychologist hatches a plan to save Pignon's job. He alters some gay pictures to make it seem that Pignon is gay. He cannot be fired anymore, or the company, with a large gay clientele would suffer a public relations nightmare.He does not change anything in his life. His words, his actions, are exactly the same, but the reactions of everybody in his life to him change dramatically. His ex-wife, (Alexandra Vandernoot from The Dinner Game) who won't even take his calls, now answers the phone. Even his son, who refuses to dine with him because he is so drab, finds him interesting and cool after seeing him in the gay pride parade.The whole movie is a study in reality vs perception, with a comic French touch that will have you laughing out loud.Next the cast.I've already mentioned Auteil and Depardieu, but the rest of the cast is a who's who of modern French cinema.Thierry Lhermitte, and Alexandra Vandernoot from The Dinner Game; Jean Rochefort from The hairdresser's husband and The Professional.If you like mainstream movies, or slapstick, then you probably are not reading this. If you've come this far, then your comedies must be intelligent and also perhaps sarcastic, and if so, this is the movie for you.

:)