Bringing to the screen a screenplay he co-wrote with Laurence Arné, actress and companion, Dany Boon (Welcome to the Ch’tis, Crazy Raid) plunges us back into the confinement of spring 2020, as it was experienced in Paris. The City of Light also takes on the appearance of a ghost town in the film’s foregrounds, as if it had been redacted from all its inhabitants. Then, applause rings out at dusk, as citizens want to make their support heard by caregivers and front-line workers.
The story thus focuses on the residents of the same building who, forced by the exceptional context of a pandemic, relate to each other as they have never been before. Everyone has their own way of adapting to the new reality and moods are heightened.
The humor that Dany Boon uses here borrows from a boulevard mechanic and essentially consists in enlarging the line. The excessive character he plays echoes his own obsessions.
By giving his feature film the appearance of a fairy tale (accentuated by the musical framework of Alexandre Lecluyse), Boon does not however avoid caricature, nor forced emotion, nor excess of sentimentality. By dedicating 8 rue de l’Humanité to “those who have suffered”, the comedian has clearly conceived his new offering with great benevolence. But intentions, no matter how noble, are not always enough.
On Netflix
Comedy
8 rue de l’Humanité
Dany boon
With Dany Boon, François Damiens, Laurence Arné
2:05