The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish
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| The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish | |
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 VHS cover |
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| Directed by | Ben Lewin |
| Produced by | Michelle de Broca |
| Written by | Marcel Aymé (novel) Ben Lewin |
| Starring | Bob Hoskins Jeff Goldblum Natasha Richardson |
| Music by | Vladimir Cosma |
| Cinematography | Bernard Zitzermann |
| Editing by | John Grover |
| Distributed by | Trimark Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 1991 |
| Running time | 89 min. |
| Country | France / UK |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish is a 1991 comedy, directed by Ben Lewin, starring Bob Hoskins, Jeff Goldblum and Natasha Richardson. The story, set in Paris, follows the fateful meeting of Louis Aubinar with Sybil, who brings into his life her last unfortunate lover, the Pianist. The plot is based on the novel by Marcel Aymé.
[edit] Extended plot
Louis Aubinar (Bob Hoskins), a humble natured, middle-aged photographer, specializes in religious pictures and works for Norbert, a prestigious religious articles curator, who is launching among others, a series of pictures of the Saints. His last venture was St. Francis, where Louis had to fight to get the actor and live animals to do their jobs well.
Now Norbert decides to discard their next project, John the Baptist, and move directly to Jesus. Louis, who is already cash-strapped, faces the prospect of being fired if he does not find an appropriate model for Jesus. Louis's friend Zalman, who was supposed to pose as John the Baptist, cares less for his lost job by Norbert's but is very worried, since his recent case of the flu will make him lose respect in a film dubbing job. He asks Louis to do him a favor and cover his part.
In spite of his terrible situation, Louis agrees and goes to Zalman's work, which turns out to be dubbing pornographic films. In shock, he takes his place near Sybil (Natasha Richardson). His shocked state makes him have such an intense vocal (and real) orgasm, that Sybil is very impressed. So they meet each other, and Louis introduces himself as Zalman, to cover his friend's absence.
Sybil tells Louis the story of her last unfortunate relation with a passionate but delusional Pianist (Jeff Goldblum), who worked in the same restaurant that she worked at. A girl having her birthday party at the restaurant offered Sybil a good watch, so that Sybil would make the Pianist smile while he played. Sybil had had a growing passion for his playing, and this incident brought them very close, when a Violinist suddenly walked in and stole her passion with his playing. The Pianist went into a fit of rage that caused him to be imprisoned.
Now is the time of his release. Louis, moved by her story, borrows her money to buy a good suit for him and promises to be there with her at the prison gates. Yet Sybil's sickly grandfather has a complication that makes Sybil miss their meeting at the prison gates, so Louis follows the wrong person. Later he sees the suit returned to the shop's window. By a stroke of fate, the Pianist finds Norbert's card and arrives there in a downpour of rain. Louis finds the perfect Jesus in him and helps him earn a very well-paying contract from Norbert.
Louis is taking the best pictures of his career with the Pianist (who gives various names to himself, including Frederic Chopin) as Jesus. However, life becomes complicated for the Pianist, as people who have seen his posters as Jesus start coming up to him in public. By another stroke of fate, he is forced to try to cure a blind boy. During his pretended concentration, a golf ball hits the boy on the head and the boy's sight is restored. Doubting his very identity, the Pianist starts believing that he is Jesus. Through friendly conversations with Louis, he also starts understanding that Louis is disclosing to him his feelings for the same Sybil from the Pianist's past. Meanwhile, Sybil returns the money to the real Zalman, who happens to be too sick to open the door. Still trying to locate Louis, who she thinks is Zalman, she arrives at Norbert's, who has just fired the Pianist. As the Pianist sees Sybil talking to Norbert, he attacks Louis in a fit of rage. Louis is caught off guard as he is still completely unaware of the Pianist's former relation with Sybil.
Finally, the Pianist believing himself to be Jesus tries to walk on water and drowns in a river. Louis is carrying his ashes in an urn when Sybil finds him again. The film ends with the two of them getting close to each other again. Yet at the very end, Sybil, who still believes that Louis is Zalman, notices that he is wearing the very watch that she was once given.
[edit] Selected cast
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