The Wing or the Thigh? (1976)

one of comedies who reminds, again, the splendid art of de Funes. a art who is not defined by gags or small angry man but for the science to collaborate with the partner. Coluche does a great work as part of couple with Louis de Funes and that is the key of the charming situations and fine humor. Julien Guiomar does the perfect portrait of the enemy of mister Duchemin. and the hilarious situations are the ideal package for the illustration of conflict between tradition and new technology. a film about food and about joy of life. memorable scenes and great challenges to food industry from our days. that detail does it great. and, sure, the talent of a great actor who creates not exactly characters but universes.

This movie, though shot a while back and its two stars (De Funes and Coluche) are gone up there, is still actual.A renowned French restaurant reviewer, Duchemin, is about to quit and leave it to his rather bohemian son, who prefers doing a clown in a circus rather than follows his dad's footsteps. A food promoter, Tricatel, wants to nail him by providing his bad "fast food" through regional French restaurants, by challenging him in a TV show. Wanting to prove his food is no good, Duchemin decides to take his son on a restaurant tour across France, but Tricatel gets hold of the scheme. It's up to them to get into Tricatel's food processing plant to prove that he serves vile food to french restaurateurs.This type of movie makes us think of what can be served in restaurants might not be as good as it pretends. However, lots of funny moments, and Coluche love interest, Marguerite, is not bad to see either in this movie.A must-see if you think twice before eating in a restaurant...

After having landed a world-success with Gerard Oury's "The mad adventures of Rabbi Jacob" (1975), Louis De Funes suffered his first severe heart attack. Nevertheless, only one year later, he starred in an other great success: "The Wing or the Thigh" (1976). However, while Rabbi Jacob became world-famous and is since long available as one the deplorably very few De Funes movies on DVD, "L'Aile Ou La Cuisse" never reached the stardom of his predecessor. About the reasons one can only speculate. So, De Funes suggested to put Coluche's name on the advertisements posters, Coluche who plays De Funes' son and was one of the greatest French stars of comedy, circus, TV and politics - but unknown to a greater audience outside of France. Moreover, the topic of this movie is the beginning of "Convenience Food" (so the official term) in France in the mindst-70ies. In the US, however, frozen food in the form of "TV dinners" and other convenient forms of thawing or reheating pasteurized meals had already a long tradition at that time. Obviously, the producers were afraid that "L'Aile Ou La Cuisse" would not be understood outside of Europe. But nevertheless, Louis De Funes, although pale-looking and quieter than in his earlier works, can show all registers of his gigantic comic talent in this movie. In Coluche, he has a quite non-fitting partner, but one who was wise enough not to upstage De Funes, but to persuade with his soft or even tacit humor. As usual for all De Funes movies, the plot is coherent and convincing from A to Z, the topic is still not dusty, because meanwhile our world has been over-rolled by successors of Monsieur Tricatel from the movie, and Louis De Funes is, as he ever was, the most sympathetic heroic anti-hero, bourgeois anti-bourgeois and military anti-militarist how he can perhaps only exist in France.

As several other readers pointed out, "L'aile ou la cuisse" is probably an integer part of German television culture. At least for those of us who spent a lot of time glued to the screen, as I did as a child... This movie is a very funny satire on modern life and De Funes and Coluche are just great to watch performing. Above all, there's the wonderful 70ies music score of Vladimir Cosma that plunges you right back into those grand days of French comedy. Probably one of the best ones De Funes ever made. Unfortunately, it was also one of his last ones. Another interesting fact is that Pierre Richard was first to play the role of Gerard, the son of Duchemin. He was occupied by another production at that time, so Coluche came in.