Artus looks back on the reception of “Un p’tit chose en plus” in Cannes

The comedian and director looks back on the reception given to his film and his team at Cannes and denounces the “hypocrisy” of the cinema world with regard to comedy in France.

Five months after the Cannes Film Festival, Artus has quite bitter memories of his time on the Croisette. In an interview with Libération for his new show One man showthe comedian and director ofA little something extra – 9th biggest success in French cinema with nearly eleven million admissions – looks back on the reception given to his film and his team at Cannes and denounces the “hypocrisy” of the cinema world with regard to comedy in France.

“The film had already reached five million admissions, when Thierry Frémaux (general delegate of the Festival, Editor’s note) was still finding out which of the gang was Artus,” he says.

“We clearly saw that we were pissing everyone off, in a context where comedy remains perceived as a subculture, with the hypocrisy that entails when popularity reaches such a level that we can no longer tell you ignore,” he adds.

“The criticism would not have been the same if the film had been by Vincent Dedienne or Panayotis Pascot, who have the cards. That’s how it is. But I also observe that Louis de Funès, ex-pariah of the “intelligentsia, was celebrated forty years after his death at the Cinémathèque Just as I predict a ‘cult’ status for the Fifi band in fifteen years”, assures Artus.

Summer success

In A little something extraa father (Clovis Cornillac) and his son (Artus) are on the run after a robbery. In order to escape the police, they find refuge in a summer camp for adults with disabilities where they pose as a resident and his specialized educator. A stay that will change them forever.

A real success of the summer with nearly eleven million tickets sold, this comedy which features real actors with mental disabilities, aims to laugh with disabled people and not at their expense.

If, despite its success in theaters, A little something extra was not selected at the Cannes Film Festival last May, the film team was nevertheless invited by the organizers to climb the steps of the Croisette.

But, shortly before the event Artus revealed that, contrary to custom, no luxury brand had agreed to lend evening wear to the film team to parade on the red carpet. After this controversy, the Kering group finally dressed the actors inA little something extra.