• The Other Chronicle: Mr. de Funés' extravagances.

160 MILLION TICKETS

We are looking for the great national comic actor, who has best represented in the cinema through humorous characters the way of being and the average citizen of a country. This figure is already established and recognized, even though "way of being" or "average citizen" are notions -by being close to generalization and topic- highly debatable and slippery. This great national comic actor, according to the guidelines chosen by critics and historians, must meet the following requirements: having interpreted -not directed- a popular comedy and humor film for many years; having represented, with very personal interpretive resources, an archetypal character or a set of characters that average a common character and behavior and, very importantly, not being an intellectual or being supported - in the scripts of his films - by writers of intellectual profile. On the contrary, it is normal for this actor to have the rejection, with some exceptions, of the intellectuals. This rejection can and usually changes sign when this actor dies. So, a sociological value is assigned to his work and finally, even by intellectuals, the value of his figure and his filmography, which survive at least as a reflection of the society of a time, is admitted. This actor has been in France the short, grumpy and gesturingLouis de Funès (1914-1983). His films sold 160 million tickets in France alone. Who has been, under the conditions listed above, the great Spanish comic actor?

A DOCUMENTARY IN ART

The idea for this article came to me when I saw, thanks to the website of El Cultural , the great documentary Monsieur De Funès , by Grégory Monro and Catherine Benazeth, which can be watched for free until July 25 on the Spanish website of the channel ART television. De Funès had an extraordinary success in Spain - and in many other countries - between the 60s and 80s. Today it is very unknown here by young audiences. Nine of his films can be seen on Filmin right now, including the six in which, always directed by Jean Girault , he played a French gendarme. This is a first key issue, having been able to play the same character several times, a character, moreover, as deeply rooted in French society as the gendarme. The six gendarme films are not exactly the best of De Funès. To the fans of Louis de Funès costs us and hurts us a lot of choice but with higher quality Scriptwriting and with his comic performance at high altitude, I would cite as better this half a dozen: Oscar (1967), Man orchestra (1970), The Great Spree (1966), Delusions of Greatness (1971), The Adventures of Rabbi Jacob (1973) and The Miser (1980). I have named them in slight chronological disorder to say that the last four were directed by Gérard Oury , his other head director.

FRENCH AND SPANISH

In France, the other two great national comedians were Bourvil and Fernandel . In Italy, Totò and, if we go a bit outside the strict rules, Alberto Sordi and around. In Britain I don't see a clear case in the past, although I do see Rowan Atkinson . But Mister Bean is more on TV and is appreciated by intellectuals, and that points to another business. In the United States, Bob Hope , Danny Kaye and Jerry Lewis (discounting his films as a director). In Mexico, Mario Moreno 'Cantinflas "' ... Those who take part in the documentary on De Funès -they say very interesting things- end up defining without remorse the type of French that the actor nailed: authoritarian, pissed off, rude, classy, ​​scornful, scorching , macho, ridiculous, petty and, generally speaking, strong with the weak and weak with the strong. It is not a very flattering profile, let us say, but it has to help us to cope with the type of Spanish - tighten your belts! interpreted our great national comedian, whoever it is: a redneck, repressed, flirt, rude, cheat, reactionary, macho, rogue, ball, big head, bossy, cheat, self-conscious and amazed at what comes from outside ...

THE ASPIRANTS TO THE TITLE

If we review the comedy and the Spanish comic cinema -they are not the same, but ...- from the 60s until today, we will have no difficulty in recognizing that this is the way of being and the type of average national citizen that has represented or forged -if you prefer- our great comedian. That the reader reread, if necessary, the agreed requirements that I listed at the beginning. According to all this, and without anesthesia, the great national comic actor must be either Paco Martínez Soria or Alfredo Landa , closely followed by Andrés Pajares and Fernando Esteso . Remember that they have to be comic actors who have reiterated or averaged a very specific type of character, although here we have not had - or do not remember - one as specific as the de Funès gendarme. José Luis Torrente? Yes, but the films of the former policeman, corrupt and ordinary, who has been with us for five outings and almost 20 years with us, are written and directed by Santiago Segura , so that he falls outside one of the norms of the great national comic actor: being only an interpreter. What we have had, as in Italy -and also in Argentina-, is a magnificent contingent of comedy and comedy actors -especially secondary actors-, starting with Pepe Isbert and continuing with José Luis López Vázquez , Tony Leblanc , José Sacristán and many and many others. And by the way, an aspiring actress to the title, Lina Morgan . As you will have seen, this question of the great national comic actor, a reflection of a country, is a very thorny, minefield. It would seem that it can be better understood by intuition, without too many explanations and concretions, that lend themselves to controversy. But let's discuss, if we feel like it. The French are clear that Louis de Funès was their man. By the way, the son of a Galician and an Andalusian, he was close to being born in Spain. He felt, to a large extent, very Spanish.

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