When it comes to exploring a country and its culture, I subscribe to the belief that everything that we need to know about a nation and its people can be found in its comedy since humour is both a universal language, but also something that is often quite specific, whether it is to a specific era or cultural group. In terms of French cinema, there are few films that are more cherished than Le Dîner de Cons (“The Dinner Game”), which has been elevated to the status of being one of the most beloved comedies produced in the country, and the one that many people use as their entry-point into the national cinema, since it is accessible and very funny, and is not too specific to the culture, so outsiders are more than likely going to find the humour in the majority of these scenarios. Written and directed by Francis Veber, who ascended to become one of the more reliable voices in French comedy over half a century ago as both a writer and director, a position he has held for quite some time up until very recently, and this film is a very funny examination of class and social structure, told from the perspective of two extremely different characters that somehow work together in tandem to create a bitingly funny satire that lampoons and eviscerates French society, taking a razor-sharp scalpel to the social conventions that define the country and proving that they are built on nothing but a pompous desire for dominance, which is a universal trait of any culture that contains some element of division by economic and intellectual standards. Sharp, hilarious and often quite heartfelt, we discover that Le Dîner de Cons is an unexpectedly brilliant work that has stood the test of time in ways that may be slightly controversial, but in a way that becomes less troublesome the more we try and understand the perspective with which this story was told, and the general conceptual tenets that guided its production.

The premise of Le Dîner de Cons is extremely simple – a group of bourgeois elitists host a monthly dinner in which they all bring an invited guest to the party, under the caveat that whoever they bring has to be the most foolish, idiotic person they can find, and whoever finds the most eccentric dullard wins the prize. The film takes place just before the dinner, where a pretentious publisher invites his guest to his apartment for a pre-party interview, to assess whether or not he is an appropriate candidate. However, over the course of the evening there are many mishaps that occur that cause chaos in the lives of both characters, all stemming from the incompetence of both parties to actually develop the necessary skills to make it through this very simple procedure. As we can see, this concept is extremely straightforward, and offers exactly what we would expect from this material, which is a charming and very funny comedy that has a strong sense of direction and a forthright willingness to push boundaries that we may not have even realized exist in such a potent, memorable form. Detailed and bitingly funny we find that this is a film that is willing to have conversations that some may consider taboo, but which it approaches with a quirkiness that helps alleviate the feeling that this is not appropriate material on which to base a comedy, which all comes down to how much Veber is willing to expand on the world of this story, looking at the more charming details more than the broadly comedic story, which is usually what we notice first, but which can become quite troubling in the wrong hands, as we have seen with countless films that tend to trivialize very serious subjects in the name of humour, something that this film manages to mostly avoid, at least in the places where it matters the most.

There exists a faction of the population that view Le Dîner de Cons as being part of a movement that sought to diminish and insult, often being compared to Lars Von Trier’s The Idiots, which was released almost concurrently, and also focused on the exploits of people many would consider to represent the less-intellectual side of society. Based on a cursory glance, it does indeed seem like this film has a jagged edge, and uses a lack of intellect as a source of humour. However, there is a level of sensitivity that goes into this film that allows it to be far more nuanced than simply an opportunity for the director to make fun of his characters, and this is certainly not the first time we have seen comedy formed from a lack of intellect, with the idiots and dunces always being viewed as inherently more funny, which is its own separate conversation for the future. It is very clear that despite its premise, Le Dîner de Cons is not mean-spirited in a way that actually feels like it is punching downwards – if anything, the fact that the true fool in this story is not the one handpicked for his eccentricity, but instead the pretentious individual whose entire sense of self-worth is formed from his misguided belief that he is somehow superior to everyone else. The prototypical broad comedy that plumbs for humour in the most obvious places and places a very obvious lesson at the end, which is perhaps the only appropriate way to handle something of this nature without it becoming too inconsistent in its values. Veber has many terrific ideas, and while the comedy may be an acquired taste for some, it is mostly successful in drawing our attention to the central moral right at the heart of the story, and it becomes a matter of understanding how it uses these ideas to create a charming and amusing comedy that may be obvious, but remains deeply entertaining.

Most of what has made Le Dîner de Cons so beloved are the two central performances, as well as some supporting parts that add nuance to the story. In particular, Jacques Villeret has been celebrated as delivering one of the most iconic comedic performances in French cinema. In what is widely seen as his landmark role, the actor takes on the part of the foolish François Pignon, a man who means well, but finds himself in increasingly precarious situations caused by his inability to pick up on the most basic social cues, as well as his tendency to cause mischief without even trying, which leads to him being hand-selected by the other protagonist, who views his peculiar nature as the perfect contrast to his high-and-mighty attitude that ultimately turns out to be his downfall. Villeret is terrific and deservedly received countless laudations and a place in French cinema history, but we can’t undersell Thierry Lhermitte either, since he proves to be just as hilarious, albeit in a very different kind of role that is intentionally despicable, but still very charming, proving to be the perfect embodiment of the “love-to-hate” protagonist that should not be this endearing, but the combination of his comedic timing and the schadenfreude of seeing him encounter many misfortunes making him unexpectedly entertaining in a way that needed an actor with a strong presence but a distinct versatility to handle all the various challenges thrown at this character, which is certainly the case here. Ultimately, Le Dîner de Cons is a film built from the familiar odd couple premise, which relies on the chemistry of the two actors to succeed, and we find both performances are exceptional, being layered and distinct performances that feel lived-in and authentic, much more than anything else we may have expected from such bizarre characters.

There are many elements behind Le Dîner de Cons that make it such a cherished film, and the reasons that it has stood the test of time are usually a matter of interpretation, but are not difficult to understand once you have examined the film and its very peculiar worldview.  There are many elements of this film that deserve to be discussed and analysed, and there are certainly no shortage of potential points of conversation, especially considering how comedy has evolved – a film like this could not be made today (and considering how many failed remakes we have seen around the world, it’s clear that it’s not something that necessarily belongs in the modern cinematic landscape), but this doesn’t invalidate the brilliance that drives this film and which has made it one of the most beloved French comedies produced in the last thirty years, even standing as a film that is loved by those from outside this culture, who find value in the eccentric, off-the-wall hilarity. As amusing and charming today as it was a quarter of a century ago, which puts into perspective the amount the film industry has changed in the kinds of stories it is willing to tell, Le Dîner de Cons is an immovable piece of global cinema, and a film that has stood the test of time with an unexpected elegance and a sense of sincerity that its detractors conveniently overlook, instead focusing on its outdated elements, which are inexcusable but otherwise not defining, being barely a distraction from the outrageous and heartfelt humour that propels this terrific and upbeat work of pure comedic madness, which continues to entertain a wide audience drawn from many demographics, which is an immense achievement.