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| Fig.1 "Ruby & Quentin" Poster |
Apart from the various successful film genres we have today Comedy is one of them. Comedy movies make us laugh, make us feel good and satisfied, but most importantly it makes us relieve stress and relax us. The reason why we laugh at certain comedy movies is completely personal, therefore, one certainly cannot assume that if one comedy was appealing to one person it will automatically appeal to another individual as well. The following review is going to explain the different types of comedy, introduce theories why people are laughing and exemplify those with the movie “Tais-toi” also called “Ruby & Quentin” a French crime and comedy movie written and directed by Francis Veber which covers the story of Ruby a French mercenary who stole a large amount of money from a mafia boss and lands in jail. In jail he meets Quentin, an innocent-minded (sometimes stupid and childish) guy who failed trying to heist a bank for money. Thanks to Quentin’s personality he gets into trouble very easily with other prisoners who start a fight with him because Quentin asks them too many “silly” questions and therefore get annoyed by it. However, the fight always ends up with Quentin beating them up and the police officers are forced to place him into another cell. Eventually, Quentin ends up being placed into a cell together with Ruby who has not said a single word since his imprisonment to make him talk. With silly actions and plans they escape the prison and end up hunting for the mafia boss and being hunted by them and the police at the same time. Accompanied by sticky situations and humorous ways of getting out of them Quentin and Ruby end up achieving their goal: killing the mafia boss Vogel.
There are many different theories out there explaining why people are laughing. However, the most common ones are: “The Superiority Theory” which claims that humor comes at other people’s expenses (for example in “Borat”), “The Incongruity Theory” believing that surprises cause laughter such as the famous zombie kid saying: “I like turtles.”, “The Benign Violation Theory” basing on moral, social and linguistic norms violation, “The Mechanical Theory” relying on the fact of repeating character traits and “The Release Theory” exemplified by a punch line after a buildup. The four basic types of humor are: playful/childish humor which is focusing on playfulness and silly acts, toilet humor which is centered on bodily functions such as whoopee cushions, “Schadenfreude” originates from German which focuses on humor/pleasure derived from the misfortune of other’s and intellectual humor which is created around a depth of knowledge such as mathematical jokes.
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| Fig. 2 Quentin and his cow box |
Based on the childish and innocent personality of the main comedian Quentin one can already assume that “Ruby & Quentin” belongs to the category of playful/childish humor. The scene where they escaped the prison and heisted a shop stealing $15, a whoopee cushion and a cow sound making toy, shall be analyzed in order to prove its type of humor. After Quentin and Ruby escaped prison with the help of Quentin’s friend Martineau they get chased down by the subordinates of Vogel, the mafia boss. They both manage to fend off their attack and steal their car. After a little chase Ruby decides to call Vogel to tell him that Ruby will hunt him down for what he did. During the call Quentin plays with the whoopee cushion and the cow sound making toy. The fact that Ruby is making a serious conversation about life and death with Vogel and Quentin fooling around with the toy made the scene quite hilarious. At some point Ruby gets annoyed and throw the toy out of the window; however, Quentin apparently really enjoys playing with it and leaves the car to get it back. The contrast between the seriousness and the playfulness and carelessness makes the scene really funny to me, but also the way his innocence and stupidity are getting on Ruby’s nerves really quickly and shows it with an eye-rolling expression followed by ripping the toy out of Quentin’s hands and throw it somewhere to shut him up. This can even be seen as “Schadenfreude” since Ruby is obviously suffering from Quentin’s stupidity and wants to get rid of him any time possible. Apart from that, Quentin’s repeating character trait has also an impact on the humor as well. The audience gets used to his “stupidity” and starts to find it funny just like how people laugh at Homer from “The Simpsons” with his “stupid” personality.
All in all, comedy is personal it cannot be predetermined by some comedy experts in any way, everyone has their own sense of humor, even though, they may be similar in some ways. Comedy plays an important role in everyone’s life due to their stress relieving and relaxing effects. “Tais-toi” is one of my favorite comedy movies so far and I would recommend it to anyone who likes a mix between childish/playful and “Schadenfreude” humor. Gérard Depardieu’s brilliant play of the role Quentin makes the movie enjoyable and entertaining to watch.
Illustration List:
Fig. 1 "Ruby &Quentin" Poster. At: http://www.impawards.com/intl/france/2003/posters/tais_toi.jpg (Accessed on 12/12/2017)
Fig. 2 Quentin and his cow box. (Screenshot taken from the actual film) (Accessed on 12/12/2017)
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