Welcome to the Sticks
Short description
Philippe Abrams runs a post office in Salon-de-Provence, in the south of France, where his wife Julie has been unhappy for some time. Hoping a move to the Mediterranean coast will lift her spirits, he tries to arrange a transfer by underhand means, but he is caught and sent instead to Bergues, a small town in the far north near Dunkirk. Convinced the region is cold and its inhabitants unwelcoming, he leaves alone, only to find a place he enjoys and colleagues he comes to like, among them Antoine, the local postman. When Julie decides to join him, Philippe has to hide how fond he has grown of the north.
Dany Boon directed and stars as Antoine, with Kad Merad as Philippe, Zoé Félix as Julie and Philippe Duquesne among the supporting cast. Boon wrote the screenplay with Alexandre Charlot and Franck Magnier, and the film was produced by Claude Berri and Jérôme Seydoux. Made for about 11 million dollars, it took roughly 245 million worldwide, an exceptional return for a French comedy of its scale, and it was the first film Boon directed, ahead of Nothing to Declare, Superchondriac and later features.
Audience response has been solid rather than unanimous: on IMDb it holds 7.1/10 from around 47,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.7/10 from roughly 2,600 votes. A critics' rating of 5.6/10 from nine reviews places it below both audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Having collected a record 25.5 million euros in its first week of release, the film surpassed the previous record holder – the 2006 film 'Funny Games'.
- In France, the film was seen by 20.5 million people, which also became a record since the 1966 film 'The Great Stroll' with 17.3 million viewers.
- The film's director, Dany Boon, played one of the main roles.
- The film vividly and comically depicts the use of the Picard dialect, also known as 'chtimi', which is incomprehensible to people from southern France. The film's popularity has caused a real tourism boom in Bergues.
- The film comically depicts the use of the Picard language by locals, unintelligible to southerners. The film's popularity caused a tourism boom in Bergues.
- Grossing a record 25.5 million euros in its first week of release, the film surpassed the previous record holder, "Fun Size".
- The film set a national attendance record, which stood for 42 years, surpassing "The Great Walk".
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