The French filmmakers Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache became known in this country primarily through the sensational success “Pretty Best Friends”: more than nine million tickets sold meant they were number one in the German cinema charts in 2012, ahead of “Skyfall” and “Ice Age 4”. But even before their international megahit, the duo had made three films together, including the summer comedy “Help, Holiday!” (2006), which was not released in Germany, but has long been considered a cult film in France. It takes place in a youth camp – and that’s exactly where Nakache and Toledano met in the late 1980s.
“Help, vacation!” could actually be seen as a kind of intellectual forerunner for the directors’ latest comedy prank: At the time, the focus was on the kids in the camp and their carers; “Only Dreamed” is about the experiences of a Parisian suburban boy with a Maghreb migrant background – and that is no coincidence, as Éric Toledano has Moroccan roots and Olivier Nakache has Algerian roots. Both have composed a really funny and at the same time incredibly touching coming-of-age story based on their personal experiences and with the help of their sparkling talent as storytellers. The result is a pretty good mood film as a time travel with a lot of eighties flair and a large portion of nostalgia to make you laugh, sigh and sometimes even cry.
Vincent would really do anything to win over the much cooler Anne-Karine (Jeanne Lamartine).
The focus is on Vincent (cinematic debut for Simon Boublil), a really sweet boy of around twelve years old who you can immediately see how gentle and clever he is. But that doesn’t help him at all; on the contrary, he is constantly oppressed and tormented by his older brother Arnaud (Alexis Rosenstiehl), with whom he has to share a room. Arnaud is a pretty cool new wave fan. He looks a bit like Boy George doing Michael Jackson – or vice versa. And he constantly shows Vincent how much he is superior to him in every way. While her efficient mother Sandrine (Camille Cottin) serves coffee to the men in the board meeting as a secretary, it can sometimes happen that her younger son calls and asks her for help in his time of need. The disruptions aren’t exactly good for her career – Sandrine dreams of finally getting promoted and earning more money. To do this, she continues her education with computer courses.
This, like many other things, is a constant point of contention with Yves (Louis Garrel), who doesn’t cut a particularly good figure as a husband and father despite his stylish mustache. He is currently unemployed, but no one is allowed to know this, especially not the chubby but strict caretaker Monsieur Berger (Pierre Lottin), who likes to flirt with Sandrine. And while everyone in the family has their problems, Vincent’s preparation for his bar mitzvah is extremely half-hearted. He is also secretly in love with the ambitious Anne-Karine (Jeanne Lamartine) from a middle-class, very traditional, not to say nationalistic family. Vincent tries everything to get her attention. But the joint presentation turns out to be a flop – and Anne-Karine’s parents should perhaps not find out that their daughter’s admirer is an Arab Jew – that would, according to Vincent, be “the maximum shock” for them. So what could he do to impress her?
You can’t fit more eighties in a film
From mixtapes to going to the video store, from the disco wave to the mullet – here long-lost memories of 80s pop culture are snatched from oblivion. But Toledano and Nakache achieve even more – much more: They have created an almost perfect comedy with a great soundtrack, a lot of flair and a bit of nostalgia, which is not only insanely fast-paced (in the truest sense of the word) and entertaining, but also has just the right amount of depth and sophistication. In fact, there are neither sags nor platitudes here, because everything that might seem a bit cliché at first glance later turns out to be a tongue-in-cheek misdirection of the audience or a completely believable twist that life just brings with it. So the loser dad is a bit clumsy, but somehow very sweet and lovable – and he turns out to be quite inventive when it comes to the well-being of his youngest son.
Louis Garrel plays him in a sometimes delightfully awkward way as a man who always tries to live up to his traditional role as a family man – and who still has to secretly pump up his eldest son. Arnaud, on the other hand, is introduced by Alexis Rosenstiehl as a young rebel in the best tradition of Patrick Dewaere, who unfortunately died early, and who he actually looks quite similar to. And here too, you shouldn’t be too sure about your character. Camille Cottin is very convincing and equally funny as Sandrine; a spirited, argumentative wife, but also a loving mother, anything but mother-in-law and full of ambition to make more of herself. Pierre Lottin as the flirty caretaker has a small but nicely laid out role – he too gets to show off his comic talent.
Father Yves (Louis Garrel) and mother Sandrine (Camille Cottin) don’t have things under control nearly as well as they would like their sons to believe.
But the real star is actually Simon Boublil as Vincent – you just have to love him, this boy who tries to appear as cool and grown-up as possible and develops an incredible charm in the process. All of this is confidently staged, peppered with fine dialogue and accompanied by atmospheric 80s pop – a dream or, as the original title goes: “Juste Une Illusion” (“Just an Illusion”). But it’s not, it’s a really good film.
In addition to all the everyday comedy with which Toledano and Nakache look back on their life in the Paris suburbs 40 years ago in an entertaining but also realistic way and with bittersweet memories, the two also manage the balancing act of negotiating the big issues of life and our time with a light hand and in a very casual way. Because this child does not grow up in a vacuum, but in the middle of a world in which adulthood is just as difficult as being a child, perhaps even more difficult. A bit of humor and optimism could be very helpful, says the film.
Conclusion: Simply enchanting – an enchantingly funny and at the same time very intelligent and sensitively thought out comedy, wonderfully acted, with great dialogues and wonderful gags. And anyone who didn’t know why François Mitterrand and Helmut Kohl held hands in Verdun will find out a version of what happened here that is at least as good as the official historiography.