"If it were humor, we would have laughed," says one of the four daughters of Claude Verneuil (Christian Clavier) at a family meal. The explanation refers to a joke that Mr Papa intended to tear - but it can certainly be read as a commentary on "Monsieur Claude and his daughters 2". And even more: as an expression of the helplessness of the film, as the pattern of the successful predecessor of 2014 plausible (read here you can continue the criticism in SPIEGEL) could continue.

"Monsieur Claude and his daughters" (in the French original: "Qu'est-ce qu'on a fait au Bon Dieu?", Ie: What have we done to God?) Was four years ago not only in France a hit (12 million viewers), but turned out in this country as a movie surprise of the year - with nearly four million visitors played the narrative rather wooden comedy in the league in which superhero blockbusters compete with each other.

The thrill of the film resulted from its bragging ability to narrate the diversified present from the point of view of the prehistoric prosperity of Papa Claude. He has to watch how his handsome daughters marry minority deputies: a Jew, a Muslim, a Chinese and - as the "mess" escalating punchline - a black man.

Desperate search for a story

If you meant it well with "Monsieur Claude", then the film could be described as an attempt to bother the said Urfranzosen at all with something like difference. Nevertheless, the story did not get washed away, because it was always about saving one's prejudices to the endgame.

I know that the Aficionadas of supposedly innocent pleasure will interpret this view as a know-it-all humorlessness. Unfortunately, the pleasure of film presupposes, unfortunately, that the smoke candle is "politically correct" for the brave light of truth. With that in mind, "Monsieur Claude and his Daughters 2" is actually more interesting than the predecessor movie, although I would bet (box of beer, half pig) that the fans will leave the original a little disappointed the movie theaters. It was alright, but part one has somehow hurt more.

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"Monsieur Claude and his daughters 2": multicultural in original French

The fact that the sequel is looking almost desperately for its story also has something to do with the fact that the reality is different, in which the film now appears - where the global involvement of our rich continent through migrant pressure since 2015 is more visible here, if Europe as Idea of ​​national fears is torpedoed. It almost seems as if the film realizes how much the cheap-to-have pose loses its "impropriety" appeal the moment it becomes clear what hatred and violence it has fueled.

So try "Monsieur Claude and his daughters 2" (director: Philippe de Chauveron, book: Chauveron with Guy Laurent) cumbersome around a lengthy exposure around: He lets the four sons-in-law come together in a failing start-up and sends Monsieur Claude and his wife Marie (Chantal Lauby) through the world - to the daughters in-laws.

It is precisely this despicable idea that symbolizes the crisis of the film, when the plane lands again after the pictures taken by the Verneuil couple on take-off - contrary to the expectations of spectators in Paris. The sequel not unusual externalization of history ("Monsieur Claude in Africa") conceded the film by an abrupt cut (which, of course, saves budget).

Ultimately, the claim of the journey is only to gather dialogue material for "jokes" that try to re-enact the play with "you're so" clichés from part one, in which each of the sons-in-law must act as a collective singular of his deviation ( the Jewish is about, even if it is about the negation, always associated with money). The fact that the film itself is tired, shows the above-quoted remark of a daughter.

Genre-typical family reunification

And so, "Monsieur Claude and his daughters 2" finally makes his peace, in which history decides, almost a bit nationally, to tell diversity as an opportunity for the reforestation of French pride. The fact that the children's generation in crisis-stricken France sees less future than in the respective countries of origin of the sons-in-law - or in India, where the youngest daughter (Élodie Fontan) moves with her husband (Noom Diawara) turns out to be actually the dramatic core of the film.

As a result, Monsieur Claude invests a large part of his fortune (which is also a metaphor for the fatty liver of the educated Western European post-war generation) to stage site advertising as a theater for his demographically shrinking provincial town.

In the video: The trailer for "Monsieur Claude and his daughters"

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New visions

The goal is genre-typical family reunification. The fact that this happens in "Monsieur Claude and his daughters 2" awkwardly-small-voiced than in part one, increases the tension on the inevitable continuation.