Chasse gardée with Didier Bourdon: Is the 2 million ticket comedy inspired by one of the most famous sketches of Les Inconnus, Les Chasseurs?
In 2023, Chasse gardée is a hit on the big screen, attracting nearly 2 million viewers! Is this comedy starring Didier Bourdon a full-scale adaptation of the Inconnus sketch, "Les Chasseurs"?
In 2023, Chasse gardée is a hit on the big screen, attracting nearly 2 million viewers! Is this comedy starring Didier Bourdon a full-scale adaptation of the Inconnus sketch, "Les Chasseurs"?
"Faut expliquer : tu vois, y'a le mauvais chasseur, y voit un truc qui bouge y tire, y tire. Le bon chasseur, y voit un truc, y tire, mais c'est un bon chasseur." Everyone remembers this hilarious line from the famous Inconnus sketch, "Les Chasseurs," first aired in 1991 and since then has become legendary.
From Sketch to Film?
Therefore, when Didier Bourdon became one of the stars of Chasse gardée in 2023, all fans asked the same question: Is this comedy directed by Antonin Fourlon and Frédéric Forestier a kind of adaptation of the famous sketch for cinema?
According to the directors, this is not the case at all, but they obviously thought of Les Chasseurs when casting the feature film, particularly the character of Bernard, played by Bourdon. "Instinctively, we went towards him. And Didier was not fooled. It’s a sketch that has made history, that has been and still is widely viewed because it has managed to appeal to several generations," they shared in the film's press kit.
"Didier obviously wanted to distance himself from it even if he couldn't resist giving a nod to it. What appealed to him was the complexity of the character, his authenticity, his evolution. We needed a different proposition from the sketch, not a caricature. When the sketch was released, the trend in hunting was paramilitary, but that has completely changed. It was interesting to see the evolution thirty years later," explained Antonin Fourlon and Frédéric Forestier.
Indeed, the duo of filmmakers came up with the idea of this migration of a couple from Paris and their children to the countryside during the lockdown. "I actually wrote this story during the lockdown that I spent with my two young children in 60 square meters in Paris," Antonin Fourlon indicated.
"I had a desire for wide open spaces; I fantasized about moving into this house that I described. Around me, many friends were leaving. Even before the lockdown, a good number of Parisians were reaching saturation in every way. It only intensified things."
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Moving Away from the Cult Aura of the Sketch
Moreover, Didier Bourdon thought a lot before committing to Chasse gardée, precisely because of the famous sketch Les Chasseurs. "I wanted to distance myself from it; I wanted the film to be more measured than the sketch. There are not only good hunters, but there are not only bad hunters either. It’s all a matter of good practice."
The actor still imagined a nod to the sketch in the film: "I thought it was timely with the presence of this killer hunter with no limits on game, commonly referred to as a viandard. It was also a way to show the difference between our group of hunters who are not completely white-white but for whom this practice is mainly a social link, and those who eliminate without any respect," Didier Bourdon affirmed.
Ultimately, the comedian made a good decision to accept, as Chasse gardée was a nice success in 2023, attracting 2 million viewers. A sequel will be released two years later, gathering 1.1 million curious viewers. Thus, given this score, a third installment cannot be ruled out!