The Exchange Student

A French comedy. Charles runs a school in the provinces. He is bound to the rules, impatient and quick to anger. The school's finances are poor. Under an exchange programme English students come to the school and French students go to England. Charles sees an opportunity in it. His own son takes part in the exchange. But the boy does not want to go and makes a plan. Meanwhile the English student who arrives is not what was expected. The humour is built on the differences between the two countries: food, ideas of discipline, language and habits. Charles fails to understand the English every time, and every misunderstanding becomes a scene. Louis de Funès's performance is the engine: shouting, sudden rage and switching manner in an instant. The narrative begins inside the school and then takes to the road; the English sections make up the second half. Louis de Funès plays Charles. Ferdy Mayne and Martine Kelly are in the cast. Jean Girault directed; he made many films with de Funès. A familiar choice for anyone who likes classic French comedy. For a viewer expecting fine humour, the film rests on broad comedy and its jokes belong to their period.