A comedy with “a little something extra” becomes one of the successes of the year: Artus’ first directorial film, shot with around ten actors with mental disabilities, exceeded one million viewers. entries in less than a week and will see its distribution expanded.
A popular figure in humor and television, Artus made a sensational entry at the box office with “Un p’tit truc en plus”, which attracted “already more than 1,000,000 spectators, as he indicated Tuesday on Instagram.
“1,000,000 thanks!!! Thank you everyone, it’s completely CRAZY! We’re on cloud nine, it’s a waking dream!”, he wrote to his subscribers.
On the day of its release, May 1, the film even had the best start of the year, beating blockbusters like “Dune, Part II”, released in February in twice as many theaters, or “Kung Fu Panda 4 “.
Broadcast in 455 cinemas, with many full rooms in the provinces, “its release will be expanded in the second week to respond to the enthusiasm”, the distributor told AFP.
The recipe for this box? A very accessible and tender comedy, which aims to laugh “with” disabled people, and not at their expense. Because here, the two “able-bodied”, played by Clovis Cornillac and Artus, are in for their own money.
Father and son on screen, they play two small-time thugs who decide to rob a jewelry store. Lacking potty, the dad parked the car in a disabled place, in front of a home, and it was taken away.
To escape the police, they only have one chance left: to get on the bus which is taking a group of young people with mental disabilities to a summer camp, supervised by their educator (Alice Belaïdi).
Artus will pose as a boarder, Clovis Cornillac as his specialized educator.
Above all, the film draws its “little extra something” from the ten disabled amateur actors, who respond to the professional actors, playing the young people of the group.
The team spirit works, each actor playing his part — the romantic, the Dalida fan, the football player, the shameless…
When mental disability is most often caricatured on screen, “A little thing in addition” takes the side of working with disabled people themselves.
“Live together”
The film was a gamble for Artus, 36 years old, real name Victor-Artus Solaro, better known until now as a figure of humor, already playing disabled people in sketches, and on the small screen.
He made his acting debut as agent Jonas Maury in “The Legends Bureau” and has since taken on roles in comedies. He recounted his difficulty in finding producers, who were wary of the idea of filming a comedy about disability and even more so with actors who themselves had a disability.
The success of the film proves Artus right. And recalls that of “Huitième jour”, a drama with Daniel Auteuil and actor with Down syndrome Pascal Duquenne, which earned them both a share in the male actor prize at Cannes in 1996.
Or, in a completely different genre, the success of “Rencontres du Papotin”, a program on France 2, where people suffering from autism spectrum disorder interview personalities, including the President of the Republic.
“The success of the film is good, it shows that people can live together,” rejoices to AFP Sonia Ahehehinnou, vice-president of Unapei, the main association defending people with disabilities and their loved ones.
She also highlights the importance of casting, where people with disabilities are actors in their own right, “who show their ability in the profession”. “I hope the effect will not be limited to the success of the film,” she adds. And that in cinemas, the seats reserved for the disabled are not always the most poorly placed.
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