The Three Brothers

A hugely popular French comedy. Three men meet at a notary's office. None of them knows the others. The notary explains: the woman who has just died was mother to all three, and the estate will be split three ways. They are half-brothers. The sum is given precisely: a little over three million two hundred and fifty-seven thousand francs. But the money is not available at once and the three have to wait together. That is the engine of the comedy: three men with nothing in common forced to share a house. The characters are built as types; one is in debt, one is orderly, one is taken seriously by nobody. The humour comes from the settled routine of a trio who had worked for years on French television, and the three both perform and write. It opened at the end of 1995 and became the most-watched production of the year in France, with admissions approaching seven million. It finished ahead of every English-language release that year. Although it was their first work made for cinema, they won a César in the first-film category. A sequel was made years later. The biggest success of its period for anyone who likes French comedy and humour built on character types. Before you watch, know this: part of the humour is tied to 1990s French television culture and some jokes do not land from outside it.