Box-office sensation parodying racial stereotypes provides antidote to FN

Qu'est-ce qu'on a fait au Bon Dieu? or "What have we done to our dear Lord?" is the latest comedy transcending racial stereotypes that's fast becoming a block-buster hit in France. The movie directed by Philippe de Chauveron sold out 5 million tickets in its opening week, and comes just before European elections in which the far-right Front National is set to make major inroads.  

Poster of "Qu'est-ce qu'on a fait au bon Dieu?" DR

Picture a traditional, white, bourgeois, Catholic family, and put them together with a Jew, Muslim, Chinese and Black man. This is what happens when the film hero's four daughters come home with their respective fiancés. Their father, played by comic legend Christian Clavier, almost has a fit, but eventually the new re-arrangement sticks.

"What have we done to our dear Lord?" challenges French conservative values at a time where the country's integration model is being rejected by populist parties, and society at large.

Scenes of the newly recomposed family at dinner descend into chaos as clichés are thrown back and forth across the table. A truce is eventually reached when the mother decides for Christmas to cook three different turkeys to keep the peace.

The film has appealed to communities on both sides of the racial divide, finding that fine line between gentle criticism of migrant communities' increasing cultural demands without the venom of racism.

For film director, Philippe de Chauveron, the movie is about "deflating" the prejudices of the Front National tipped to become the second major political force in European elections on 25 May.

De Chauveron hopes that like "Les Intouchables" before it, "What have we done to our dear Lord?" will encourage greater tolerance between communities and that through laughter it will transcend racial and socioeconomic lines.