SERIAL (BAD) WEDDINGS/ Qu’est-ce qu’on a fait au Bon Dieu/ What on earth have we done to the Good Lord.

France, 2013, 97 minutes, Colour.
Christian Clavier, Chantal Lauby, Ary Abitan, Medi Sadoun, Frederic Chau, Noom Diawara, Julia Piaton, Frederique Bel, Emily Caen, Elodie Fontan, Pascal N' Zonzi, Salimata Kamate, Tatiana Rojo, Loic Legendre.
Directed by Philippe de Chauveron.

Serial (Bad) Weddings may be a title to entice audiences in, especially if they have attitudes towards weddings and want to see what bad weddings look like. This title translation has no bearing on the original French title which translates something like, What on earth have we done to the Good Lord!

There are serial weddings in this screenplay, the central Catholic couple, living in a provincial French town, have four daughters of marriageable age. At the opening of the film, one of the daughters marries a Muslim, the ceremony taking place in the Town Hall, the parents, especially the father, not at all comfortable in the marriage outside the church, let alone to a Muslim. We sense the prejudices, the intolerance!

Months later, we are back in the Town Hall for the second wedding and, we might have guessed, the next daughter marries a Jewish husband. The parents are getting more tense, the father less tolerant, although he tries to put on an agreeable front.

And then… Back in the Town Hall, with the third daughter marrying a Chinese. This, of course, brings a different range of prejudices and another strain on tolerance.

Part of the comedy of the film is the interaction between the three sons-in-law, who also have plenty to disagree about and who have their own levels of intolerance. The Muslim husband is a lawyer, the Jewish husband is a man with brainwaves for inventions and schemes, the Chinese is a banker who is not necessarily able to finance the schemes. The humorous dialogue has quite a deal about the different characteristics of each of the men, especially with jokes about Chinese food and Chinese excess of punctuality.

The film is an amusing, satirically observed presentation of traditionalist French families and the inroads of contemporary migration, ethnic variety, multicultural life in France.

And the fourth daughter? We see that she is living in Paris with someone who is seen reading and who, when he removes the book from in front of him, is black, from the Ivory Coast. The only consolation is that he is a Catholic and that the wedding could take place in the church. But, shock when the parents meet the prospective son-in-law, who is an actor, with the three prospective brothers-in-law scheming to expose him as a two-timer (only to discover that he is escorting his sister back to the apartment).

Matters are not so happy in the Ivory Coast as we see the mirror-image of prejudice and intolerance and reaction against French colonial domination. There is also a young priest in the town, an amusing if satirical confession sequence where he has heard it all before from the mother of the brides and is busy on his I-pad, searching out bargains. He has some other scenes, especially talking with the two mothers and laughing at the situation, presiding over midnight mass which they will attend, a touch of the camp, but doing the ceremony and really enjoying the dancing at the reception.

If you want a French perspective on contemporary migration issues, ethnic differences, multicultural values, traditional French values in the church, then this is the film to see.

1. The title, the plot, themes?

2. The French style, Porter families, clashes, meals and gatherings?

3. The city of chin on, homes, the countryside, restaurants, church, scenes in Paris, theatre? The African sequences in Ivory Coast? The towns, airport, families, homes? The musical score?

4. The joy of weddings, and the final climax?

5. The introduction to the three weddings, the Arab wedding, the Jewish wedding, the Chinese wedding? Race issues? The families and their applause? The parents, the fathers trying to green and buried? In the Registry office? Time passing, going to the bar mitzvah, the synagogue, the comments about the circumcision, the cutting, the gift, bearing it in the garden, the dog?

6. The grandchildren coming, the grandparents and part of the change of heart?

7. Race issues: Arabs and friends, Algerian backgrounds? The place of the Jews in France and their traditions, business? The place of the Chinese, business success, actuality? The different kinds of foods and restrictions? The different cultures? Religious backgrounds? Not being strict? The parents and their attitudes, having to be tolerant, trying to cope but not approving? The families amongst themselves, the sons-in-law and their clashes? No black presence?

8. The jobs, the Chinese man in the bank and the loans, the Arab in the courts, the Jewish man and his ideas, bio-cosh? The jokes and the slurs?

9. The characters, the wives, the success of the marriages? The work of the wives, the highly sensitive artist and her paintings, the exhibition, the picture and her parents home – and their putting it in the attic and it falling on the father? The reaction of the daughter fearing that they had sold it? The

10. the meal, the restaurant, the tensions, the parents walking out, driving home, aggravating their prejudices?

11. The idea of inviting all the families for Christmas, to chin on? The various reactions, jokes, the role agreeing? The arrival? They’re all time trying? The mother and her buying three different turkeys, the different cookings – and each of the men tasting the other Turkey? The meal and the sharing? After the meal, the multicultural snowman, the snowball fight? Going to midnight mass, their hearty singing of the hymn of the Divine Infant? The morning after and the gifts?

12. Laura, Charles, the revelation that he was black? The secrecy? His going to Africa, at the airport, his stern father, his loving mother, the sister? The discussions at home, the threats from the father? At the restaurant, Laura’s parents arriving, coping? The discussions about Charles, his work as a clown, acting? The three brothers-in-law and wanting to get rid of him, going to the theatre, his performing French comedy, feed oh? Their thoughts about him and the actress? Singing with his sister, the photographs – and their being exposed? The importance of the Skype discussions between the two families, the prejudices surfacing, the payments, the style of the wedding, the food? Charles father and his military background? Feeling that he lost promotion?

13. The arrival, bigotry on both sides with the fathers, giving up the bedroom? The mother, her depression, going to the psychiatrist, her husband not sympathetic, his lawyers work, their discussions?

14. The three days before the wedding, the buildup, interactions, prejudices? The effect on Charles and Laura?

15. The father going fishing, Charles father going with him, pulling in the big fish, the fish biting Charles father’s hand, the blood on the handkerchief? The going to the restaurant, drinking, becoming good friends, finding what they had in common? Changing clothes? Causing an upset, the issue of the desert and the Negro’s Head? The police, the arrest, in jail? The turning against the men with white hair?

16. The family, the concern, discovery of the truth, the father is coming back?

17. Laura, feeling bad, the parents and the impending divorce, the father planning to sell the house and travel, the wife and her leaving? In culture rate and, the African dancing and training?

18. The relieving, Charles at the station, the fathers arriving, getting on the train, travelling, the African man pretending to have an attack, stopping the train?

19. Everybody waiting at the church, getting to the church on time, the happiness of the celebration?

20. The issue of Catholicism, the parents and the traditional beliefs, wanting catholic marriages, tolerating other marriages? The mother and the priest, in the confessional, his lack of interest, his iPad and work, later visiting the church, his laughing at the prospect of yet another different race son-in-law, celebration of the ceremony, his beaker with the dancing?

21. The speeches, concessions, and happiness all-round?

22. The value of this kind of film in enabling people to stand in other people’s shoes and understand, and appreciate? The breaking down of racism and hostility?