The best replicas of OSS 117

“I like good movie lines.”

To wait until the release ofRed alert in Black Africain the summer of 2021, First had plunged back into the lines of the first two opuses ofOSS 117, written by Jean-François Halin. We are sharing them again today, during the rebroadcast of these two comedies on W9. Please note, they will be offered in order: first Rio no longer respondsreleased in 2009 in cinemas, then Cairo nest of spieswhich dates from 2006.

Something is wrong in OSS 117 3 (review)

A look back at the cult lines from the first two comedies which follow the spy Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath, this “hero” misogynist, chauvinist and paternalistic who says whatever comes into his head, even if it means making fun of himself. If a good part of the jokes are visual (hats off to director Michel Hazanavicius, moreover, who parodies James Bond and Alfred Hitchcock classics brilliantly), the dialogues are also crisp.

Hubert likes to do things
“I like to butter my rusk.” “I like to fight.” “I like it when someone coats me with oil.” “I like the white noise of water…” Like a child, the hero ofOSS comments live on what he does and the repetition effect is absolutely delicious.
His thoughts towards his best friend during flashbacks are also very childish, and this is partly what makes him endearing despite all his faults: “23 to 0! It’s a mess, Jack. You don’t know how to play, Jack! You’re bad.”

Jean Dujardin: “The OSS character is made to be used”

Hubert likes women
In his way ! The spy multiplies the blunders with his colleagues with a naturalness that leaves you speechless. And which above all gives rise to unforgettable dialogues. Example during this scene shared with Bérénice Bejo :
“- I could never refuse anything to a brunette with brown eyes.
– What if I was blonde with blue eyes?
– It wouldn’t change anything, you’re my type of woman, Larmina.
– What if I was a dwarf and myopic?
– Well, I won’t let you drive. It does not make sense.”

Or this exchange with Princess Al Tarouk, played by Aure Atika :
“- Before you leave, you dirty spy, make love to me!
– No. I do not think so, no.
– For what ?
– Don’t want…”

The humor of OSS 117 is surprisingly modern (review)

Hubert loves his job
All you have to do is see him assault the agent unable to respond to the secret message : “How is your blanquette?” Or “load/unload” his weapon, which results in exciting the princess. The spy takes his job seriously. So seriously that it becomes funny, because he is totally out of step with his interlocutors.

Hubert loves his country
“He is our own Raïs: he is Mr. René Coty. A great man. He will mark History. He loves the Cochinchinese, the Malagasy, the Moroccans, the Senegalese… so he is your friend. He will be your lucky charm.” A walking and exaggerated cliché of the Frenchman of the 1950s, Hubert speaks of his nation like no other. Another very “made in France” :

It is also his French habits, which he never questions during his missions, which make it so difficult for him to integrate abroad. In Cairo, in particular, it “silences the Muezzin”, because he had the misfortune of calling for prayer early in the morning, which gave rise to a hilarious misunderstanding with his partner.
“– I was woken up by a man screaming to death from the top of this tower! I had to shut him up.
– What ?! You silenced the Muezzin!
– Oh! So that was all the fuss.”

Hubert likes clichés
“- The idea is that we work together as equals. (Dolorès Koulechov played by Louise Monot)

– We’ll talk about it again when we have to carry something heavy.”

Or : “You are not only a coward but also a traitor as your small size suggested!”

Throughout the two films, Hubert multiplies the clichés on women, politics, religion… Without thinking that his words could hurt his interlocutors, he screws up at all costs. In 2016, beforeOSS 117 3 is officially launched, Jean Dujardin was also worried that this type of humor would be “more favorable to the times we are going through”. Screenwriter Jean-François Halin then defended his replies intelligently : ”I believe that the first two OSS 117 contained within them the antidote to the remarks made by the hero: through the female characters and thanks to the production of Michel Hazanavicius with the reactions, the moments of embarrassment, the silences.’ ‘

In Rio no longer responds, the world has evolved, but not OSS (review)

But Hubert doesn’t like the Nazis
Among Hubert’s many preconceptions, there are his theories on the Nazis, which provide the films with several cult passages:
“– Not all Germans are Nazis, sir!
– Yes, I know this theory, yes.”

Then : “Do you have a friend of former Nazis? A club? An association, perhaps?”

And of course the indignation of his enemy Colonel Gerhard Moeller (Richard Sammel):
“It’s funny, it’s always the Nazis who have the bad role. It’s 1955, Herr Bramard, can we have a second chance? Thank you.”

Hubert loves history and politics
Hubert likes it the way he likes women: without understanding anything about it. You just have to see him remember the alliances during the Second World War:
“Wait, which Chinese were allied with the Nazis?
– The Japaneses ?
– The Japanese, that’s it. My mistake. I had the beginnings of a lead, but no. If we are dealing with Chinese from China, it no longer works. “

Or upset his Egyptian interlocutor by giving him his point of view on the evolution of the country. “Development, modernity… if it weren’t for Westerners! It’s 1955, guys, we need to wake up. It would be about growing up.”

Or finally to make funny reproaches to the princess:
“- You are very rude for a woman whose uncle is a pharaoh.
– My uncle is king! The pharaohs ruled 4000 years ago.
-…I know that, eh.”

Hubert likes to sing
We end in music with the cult scene where Dujardin performs “Bambino” in Arabic :