Not all 80s films have survived the years intact. Some have lost their charm, others their humor, and still others have remained frozen in a bygone and somewhat forgotten era. But this is not the case for the film that Arte is broadcasting on Sunday, June 30, 2024 at 9 p.m. With its cast of iconic actors (John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and Michael Palin), the American-British classic with Monty Python humor has retained all its brilliance. Can you guess? It isA fish named Wanda. This comedy with a gang of thugs and a woman who makes them go crazy to get the money is so funny that when it was released in the cinema, it literally made a spectator die of laughter.
These scenes from A Fish Called Wanda that made Jamie Lee Curtis laugh
It’s difficult to keep a stoic face while watching this film as the gags are so well written. Whether it’s the scenes between the so-called brothers and sisters, Ken’s stuttering which increases at important moments in the film, or the mood swings of Otto, who is very jealous of his lover’s methods of obtaining what she wants… The film offers a list of sequences so funny that even the actors sometimes had difficulty keeping their seriousness on set. In an interview given to Vanity Fair In 2018, Kevin Kline (who plays Otto) said: “I remember the development of the love scene, ripping off her boot and her bra. ‘Le due cupole grandi della cattedrale di Milano,’ one of my favorite lines. I started quoting different cheeses, but I I quickly exhausted the little Italian I had become familiar with so I started singing Volare, it came from the depths of my unconscious, while wondering how much the royalties were going to cost us. decided that in order to orgasm, he had to look like himself, which was to say a total idiot.”. A great moment in cinema during which Jamie Lee Curtis could not remain impassive. “There was a pillow on my head and probably a ball of socks in my mouth to stop me from laughing. […] It makes me laugh just telling you about it 30 years later. I laugh easily. I’m sure Kevin is secretly mad at me because […] when something funny happens, I laugh. I had to develop, because of my experience on A Fish Called Wanda, tools to stop myself from doing that. Because I ruined a lot of Kevin’s work.”she confides.
How did a man die in the middle of a screening of A Fish Called Wanda?
But the actress who also made the finest moments in films like Halloween, the night of masks (1978), as well as other films in the saga, An armchair for two (1983), True Lies (1994), et Freaky Friday: In My Mother’s Skin (2003), is not the only one who has not been able to contain herself. In 1989, when he went to see the film in theaters, the 56-year-old doctor Ole Bentzen laughed until he died in front of the big screen. Along with Vanity FairMichael Palin (who plays Ken) says: “It was an extraordinary and terrible accident. He must have actually laughed very hard. Quite a tribute!” A statement seconded by John Cleese (Archie): “I think that’s the ultimate compliment. He started laughing after 15 minutes and literally never stopped. We tried to contact his widow, because we considered using this accident in the promotion. But we decided it was in bad taste. Everyone dies one day. I think dying of laughter is a nice way to go., he added. In November 2023, on his show The Dinosaur Hourthe British actor returned to this incredible event during an exchange with Rob Schneider. “Kevin Kline and I killed a man in Denmark. […] It was in Aarhus, a small town where everyone knew him. He was taken out of the theater dead, he had a heart attack. I told Kevin and he asked me what scene it was exactly.”. A memory as funny as it is dramatic for the entire cast and the writers of this colorful film.
