Every day, AlloCiné recommends a film to (re)watch on TV. Tonight: Coluche in a cult comedy by Jean Yanne.
Jean Yanne’s sixth and penultimate film as a director, Quarter to Two Before Jesus Christ tells the story of Ben-Hur Marcel (Coluche), mechanic in a colony of the Roman Empire, finding himself in spite of himself involved in a false plot against Caesar (Michel Serrault).
In this comedy with great spectacle, having required a triple technical team (French, Italian and Tunisian), a year and a half of preparation and fifteen weeks of filming, Jean Yanne takes pleasure in transposing contemporary issues of social protest into a setting. of peplum, where the anachronisms are legion (the poster of the film parodies that of Ben-Hur of 1959; many product placements are diverted such as “Martinius”, “Boursinum”, “Bananiam”, “Poelum Tefalum”…).
When it was released, the feature film totaled 4.6 million admissions, which placed it in third position at the French box office for 1982, just behind ET l’extra-terrestre and L’As des aces. After two successive commercial failures with Chobizenesse and I hold you, you hold me by the goatee, Quarter to two before Christ revives the career of Jean Yanne, on both sides of the camera.
Despite the incomprehension of critics at the time, this did not prevent the film from being popular, in particular thanks to its five-star cast, as well as its multiple reruns on television.
Quarter to two before Christ by Jean Yanne with Coluche, Michel Serrault, Jean Yanne…
Tonight on NRJ12 at 9:10 p.m.