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Lévy et Goliath
1987 Comedy / Thriller
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Credits
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Director: Gérard Oury
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Script: Gérard Oury, Danièle Thompson
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Photo: Wladimir Ivanov
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Music: Vladimir Cosma
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Cast: Richard Anconina (Moïse
Lévy),
Michel Boujenah (Albert Lévy),
Jean-Claude Brialy (Bijou),
Souad Amidou (Malika),
Maxime Leroux (Goliath),
Sophie Barjac (Brigitte),
Louba Guertchikoff (Rebecca),
André Valardy (Nathan),
Maurice Chevit (Oncle Mardoché),
Didier Pain (Bob Gendron),
Ticky Holgado (Le faux bossu),
Philippe Besson (Fredo),
Muriel Combeau (Sarah),
Dominique Mahut (Charley),
Roger Hanin (Voix de Dieu),
Robert Hossein (Client de Goliath)
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Country: France
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Language: French
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Runtime: 105 min
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Aka: Levy and Goliath
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Summary
Moïse Lévy is an orthodox Jew living in Antwerp. He has no time for
his brother Albert, who has given up the traditions of his Jewish background for a modern
life, running a café in Paris and marrying a non-Jew. However, fate has a
hand in bringing the two brothers back together. One day, Moïse is tasked with
taking a suitcase load of diamond powder to a car factory in Paris. En route, unbeknown
to Moïse, some drugs smugglers slip a bag of cocaine into the suitcase in a hasty
attempt to get through customs undetected. When the drugs smugglers fail to recover
their cocaine, Moïse hands it over to the car factory, believing it to be the diamond
powder. Shortly afterwards the young Jew is accosted by the drugs dealers who ask
him to hand over their cocaine. Realising his life is in danger, Moïse has
no other choice than to appeal to his brother Albert for help. Unfortuately, the
leader of the drugs smugglers, a sadistic brute named Goliath, is determined to get back
the missing drugs at any cost...
Review
Director Gérard Oury is best known for his comic gems of the 1960s and 1970s –
films such as La Grande
vadrouille (1966) and
Les Aventures de Rabbi Jacob (1973) which were massive box office hits and
have since become undisputed comedy classics. His later films were, in comparison,
disappointing, broaching thorny subjects (such as terrorism, drugs and religion) with
a lack of sensitivity that borders on bad taste and ineptitude. Lévy et
Goliath is one such film, and one that will probably cause offence, mainly for its
superficial portrayal of orthodox Jewish culture, but also because the plot is grimly
puerile in places.
If the film had been a straightforward comedy drama based around the reconciliation
of two brothers of a Jewish background, it would probably have worked rather well.
Richard Anconina and Michel Boujenah are two talented actors who bring sympathy and depth
to their portrayals of two estranged brothers, separated by their different attitudes
to life and religion. Unfortunately, whilst this dynamic is an important part of
the film, it is not the main story strand. The film is less about two estranged
brothers learning to accept each other, and more about one vulnerable man being hunted
across Paris by a band of faceless, and comically inept, drugs pushers. It is the
thriller element of the film which ultimately drags it down and ruins it, all but obliterating
some beautifully heartfelt moments involving Anconina and Boujenah, diluting the comedy
and rendering the whole thing muddled and unconvincing.
© James Travers 2005
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