manuel-pestalozzi Review of Welcome to the Sticks

Welcome to the Sticks (2008)

For the French Regionalism is a joke

[5/10 · 27 September 2010]

I remember comedy hour on French radio. I remember imitations of the Bretons, of the Basques, of the Alsatians, of the French speaking Swiss and of Belgians. They are peripheral and therefore funny and not to be taken quite seriously. Now, imagine a Spanish film depicting Galicians (or, worse, Catalans!) as peripheral, kind but stupid yokels. The outcry it would generate! This belittling of regions far from the (so called) cultural centre seems to me a specific French cultural trait. And they want to be the leading nation of Europe. I am not surprised that this movie was a smash hit, everyone likes to see a story set in a pretty little town, where there are no big worries and everybody is kind and helpful (who wouldn't like to live in Bergues after the viewing?) but it's basically presenting a real place as an idyll and hunting for cheap effects. It brings nothing new or interesting to the viewers but some moments of distraction at the expense of a specific region.