The great seduction

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Movie
German title The great seduction
Original title La grande séduction
Country of production Canada ( Québec )
original language French
Publishing year 2003
length 104 minutes
Age rating FSK 0
Rod
Director Jean-François Pouliot
script Ken Scott
production Roger Frappier ,
Luc Vandal
music Jean-Marie Benoît
camera Allen Smith
cut Dominique Fortin
occupation

Seducing Doctor Lewis ( La grande seduction ) is a French-Canadian comedy film from the year 2003 . It was the first feature film by director Jean-François Pouliot and the most successful film in Québec in 2003.

action

Germain Lesage is the aging, but still energetic and humorous, substitute mayor of Sainte-Marie-La-Mauderne. He remembers the happy childhood in the remote fishing village. The current reality, however, is pretty dreary. The men have been living on welfare for years because the fishery has dried up and there is no other job. Germain tries to get a factory to settle in the village using all sorts of tricks. A condition of the factory owner is that the future location has a doctor whose employment is contractually guaranteed for at least five years. Therefore, Germain and his friends, Henri and Yvon, write to all doctors in the province of Québec - but to no avail. The former mayor has migrated to the city and works there as a police officer. Coincidentally, he is checking plastic surgeon Christopher Lewis' car. He was traveling too fast and has some drugs in the car. As a punishment, he is transferred to the fishing village for a month. This is the opportunity for the residents. You really want to persuade him to stay longer. They learn that Christopher is a cricket fan. That is why the men stage a game without even understanding the rules. The arriving doctor is very enthusiastic and wants to watch. The players just save themselves from the embarrassment as both teams cheer for the end of the game.

Christopher's phone calls with his girlfriend Brigitte are listened to by two women in the village to get to know his preferences. Despite the frequent whistling in the receiver, he has no suspicions. Since the doctor loves Bœuf Stroganoff , the restaurant quickly has a “Boeuf Strogonoff” festival. The next morning the patients queued up with him. Later he complained on the phone about the work with forty cases a day, which made Germain less crowded. Christopher regularly finds a note left for him to please him. Since he did not have a father, Germain tells him about his son, who would be of the same age - as it turns out later, he made the story up. The information that Christopher likes feet is also used in a provocative way by the local women. Only Ève, the pretty postal worker, lets him down when he wants to go out to eat with her. When fishing, Christopher is so clumsy that a diver has to secretly hang a fish on his hook so that he can finally make a catch. The fact that the fish is frozen is explained by the great depth from which it comes. Christopher's love for jazz is reluctant to share with the villagers. Actually, the men are much more interested in ice hockey, but watch cricket because of their guest. The village is three hours from the nearest hospital. Christopher learns that this is why the residents used to be treated by the butcher.

The entrepreneur, Mr. Dupré, requires 50,000  CAD in bribes to the factory in the village to settle. Germain wants to take out a loan from the local bank clerk, Henri Giroux. But it is rejected by a higher authority. Finally, Henri approves the loan on his own, even though he knows he will be fired because of it. Another condition for the longed-for factory is a population over 200. That is why people quickly run from one place to another to appear as twice as many.

Christopher ends his relationship with his girlfriend when he finds out that she has been cheating on him with his best friend for three years. He is depressed to have been lied to. Now nothing connects him with the world outside the island. Germain and the others feel more and more guilty about their deceptions. They consider whether to stop the seduction or continue it for five years. When Christopher agrees to stay in Sainte-Marie-La-Mauderne, Germain deceives him that they already have another doctor under contract.

Ève invites Christopher to dinner. She reveals that his calls have been tapped to spy on him. He confronts everyone and Germain explains the people's financial difficulties. Christopher is impressed by the truth and remains. Thus, the factory that makes plastic pots settles in town. Everyone finally has a job and finds their pride again. Happiness like in Germain's childhood has returned to Sainte-Marie-La-Mauderne. Ève refuses a rendezvous with Christopher, but he is patient. You may still have five years to get to know each other.

Reviews

  • The lexicon of the international film wrote: "The routine village comedy plot is generally too routine and has hardly any rough edges [sic], but thanks to well-placed punchlines and quirky characters, it is entertaining in a most amusing way."
  • According to Cinema , the film is "funny, touching, lovable: after this Canadian cinematic gem, you are ready for the island."
  • Günter H. Jekubzik described the film at www.filmtabs.de as "lovably funny".
  • www.tvtv.de said: “The renowned French-Canadian commercial filmmaker and cameraman Jean-François Pouliot, born in Montreal in 1957, celebrated a sensational success with his debut film. 'The Great Seduction', a comedy set against the background of social problems and mass unemployment, broke all records at the Canadian box office and for weeks put US blockbusters on the spot. "

Awards (selection)

  • In 2004 Jean-François Pouliot won the audience award for the best foreign feature film at the Sundance Film Festival .
  • In 2004 Allen Smith won a Genie Award for best cinematography. There were nominations in 10 other categories.
  • In 2004 the film won the Prix ​​Jutra seven times , including the Golden Ticket for the most successful film of the year at the box office.

Background information

The film was shot in the small Canadian village of Harrington Harbor , which is located on the island of the same name and belongs to the province of Québec.

With revenues of over CAD 8.424 million, the film ranks third among the financially most successful film productions from Québec, behind the action comedy Good Cop Bad Cop (2006) and the dramatic love story Séraphin: un homme et son péché (as of September 24, 2006) . The film had over a million viewers in Canada.

The film was presented for the first time on September 25, 2003 at the Hamburg Film Festival in Germany. It was released in German cinemas on December 2, 2004. DVDs were released in German and French. The English film title is Seducing Doctor Lewis or Seducing Dr. Lewis .

Remakes

The great seduction served as the basis for the German ZDF television production Auf Doktor komm raus (2009) with Andreas Pietschmann , Mira Bartuschek and Henry Hübchen .

Another remake is The Great Temptation - Lies Until the Doctor Comes from 2013 with Brendan Gleeson and Taylor Kitsch .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for The Great Seduction . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , November 2004 (PDF; accessed on February 5, 2018).
  2. ↑ The great seduction. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  3. ^ A review of Cinema
  4. ^ Günter H. Jekubzik: Critique of film tabs