Les Acteurs

Bertrand Blier's fantastic comedy Les Acteurs, is a triumph of satire, and one of the most original films on the subject of show business to date. Boasting a string of A-list French actors, including Jean-Paul Belmondo (Breathless), Gérard Depardieu (The Singer), Alain Delon (Un Flic), and Michel Piccoli (Le Mépris), the film is a veritable whose who in French Cinema.

At its heart Les Acteurs is an explorative meditation on the identity of actors in contemporary cinema. The story is more like a thread of scenes rather than a designed plot, giving it a fantastically impulsive feel.
By using real-life actors whose performances purposefully blur the lines between fiction and reality, Blier has constructed a film that asks us to not only contemplate what it means to be a professional actor, but what it means to be an actor within your own life.

There are few films with the same kind of witty insight into this world, and with same amount of intelligence. Though similar in content to Tom DiCillo's Living in Oblivion (1995), Les Acteurs, is surprisingly more grounded in the realm of the real. A product of both his own life and the expansive body of work which comprises French Cinema, Blier uses his extraordinary cast to allude to films and people outside of the diegetic world of his own film, creating numerous enjoyable references to the careers and private lives of the participants, including himself. By exploring his own relationship with his father, actor Bernard Blier, at the end of the film, Blier imbues this film with a deeply personal footnote.

Ultimately, the film is immensely entertaining and full of fun references to other French movies, while also reflecting on the nature of acting in general. Filled with great vignettes and memorable situations, this films aptly showcases Blier's love of cinema.

If you like smart comedies, sharp satires or films about show business, then Les Acteurs certainly won't disappoint.

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