Pardon Mon Affaire

Pardon Mon Affaire
Pardon Mon Affaire
	French theatrical release poster
Directed by	Yves Robert
Written by	Jean-Loup Dabadie; Yves Robert
Produced by	Alain Poiré; Yves Robert
Starring	Jean Rochefort; Claude Brasseur; Guy Bedos; Victor Lanoux; Danièle Delorme; Anny Duperey
Cinematography	René Mathelin
Edited by	Gérard Pollicand
Music by	Vladimir Cosma
Release date	22 September 1976
Running time	105 minutes
Country	France
Language	French
Box office	$21.9 million

Pardon Mon Affaire (French title: Un éléphant ça trompe énormément, in English literally An Elephant Can Be Extremely Deceptive), is a 1976 French comedy film co-written and directed by Yves Robert. It was remade as the 1984 American film The Woman in Red.

The original title contains a pun in French. The word "trompe" means both "the (elephant's) trunk" and "to cheat" (in the sexual/romantic sense). The movie is about a married man's desire to have an affair with a model he just met. The film was followed by a sequel, Pardon Mon Affaire, Too!, in 1977.

Plot[]

In Paris, four men in their forties meet to play tennis and socialise. Two are married with children: Étienne, a senior civil servant, fantasises but stays faithful, while Bouly is a serial womaniser whose wife keeps leaving him. The other two are unmarried: Simon, a hypochondriac doctor, lives with his overbearing Jewish mother, while Daniel, a car salesman, secretly lives with another man.

In the car park under his office one morning, Étienne sees a beautiful woman walk over a grating when, like Marilyn Monroe, a blast of air sends her dress over her head. This is the woman of his dreams, who he sets out to pursue. A photographic model called Charlotte, she is amused at his attentions and does not discourage him too ferociously. She makes a date to meet him in London, where she is on an assignment, but his plane is diverted by fog.

Back in Paris, Charlotte agrees to go with Étienne to see his godmother, to whom he is devoted. There they find his three friends, his children, and his wife, who have all gathered secretly to welcome him. Daniel, with great aplomb, pretends that Charlotte is his girl friend and takes her home. Returning, he whispers her address to Étienne, who did not know it. Étienne goes there, and the two at last consummate their attraction.

In the morning the phone rings and Charlotte's husband tells her he will be home in a few minutes. She pushes Étienne, wearing just a dressing gown, out of the window onto a ledge. After she makes love with her husband, the couple leave and Étienne remains trapped, seven storeys above the Champs-Élysées. A crowd gathers, the fire brigade are called, and a TV crew films the rescue, which is watched by his wife and children as they eat their breakfast.

Cast[]

Jean Rochefort: Étienne
Claude Brasseur: Daniel
Guy Bedos: Simon
Victor Lanoux: Bouly
Danièle Delorme: Marthe Dorsay
Anny Duperey: Charlotte
Marthe Villalonga: Mouchy Messina
Maurice Bénichou: Gonthier
Christophe Bourseiller: Lucien
Martine Sarcey: Esperanza
Anémone: The concierge

Awards and nominations[]

César Awards (France)
- Won: Best Actor – Supporting Role (Claude Brasseur)
- Nominated: Best Actress – Supporting Role (Anny Duperey)
- Nominated: Best Writing (Jean-Loup Dabadie)
Golden Globe Awards (USA)
- Nominated: Best Foreign Film