NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Celia A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

t_atzmueller Having grown up with his movies (them being brought regularly on German TV), I always had the impression that Louis de Funes and his films got better with age. The films progressed with plain, harmless slapstick to slapstick, that often had a serious core or issue. Perhaps one of the best examples is "The Mad Aventures of Rabbi Jacob". Sure, the jokes come fast and often fly rather low, but at heart it's also the story about bigotry, anti-Semitism and how a little laughter often goes a long way to overcome prejudices. We must also remember: despite being filmed in 1973, the last war still lingered in the minds of many Europeans and that, when Germany invaded France, most of the Parisians who welcomed Hitler did not raise their right arm in protest, but for an entirely different reason.That said, "Rabbi Jacob" has all the elements of your typical de Funes film: At the beginning we get the usual hyped-up de-Funes-persona, with all the trademarks. But the performance becomes a little more subtle when de Funes character reluctantly goes into hiding as 'Rabbi Jacob'. Those scenes are the true highlights of the film, including a short, catchy Klezmer-dance-routine. Despite some jokes being by today's standards far from 'politically-correct', the jokes never go at the expense of any of the subject (maybe with the exception of the stereotypical Arab goons, but here we shouldn't forget that upon the films release, the wife of an Arab embassy-worker had hijacked a plane in protest, because she found the film to be too "pro-Jewish"; the lady was dully gunned down by security, which reminds us that some stereotypes are unlikely to change any time soon).If you enjoyed this film and particularly that mix of French farce and Jewish humour, I would highly recommend you "Train de Vie" ("Train of Life"), which was filmed a few decades later.8/10

semiotechlab-658-95444 "Les Aventures De Rabbi Jacob" (1973) is actually based on two very different plot lines: The movie starts in New York, showing children playing in a street somewhere in Lower East Side and waiting to say good-bye to their revered Rabbi Jacob, who, after more then thirty years, returns to his native France in occasion of the Bar-Mitzwah of his nephew David. However, before the Rabbi and a good dozen of his friends make it - all together in one single taxi can - to the airport, the movie starts, so-to-say a second time, showing the industrial Mr. Pivert (Louis De Funes) and his chauffeur Salomon rushing home to Paris for the wedding of Pivert's daughter. But not enough with these two main lines: There is a third one interwoven: The trip of Mohammed Larbi Slimane (Claude Giraud) on the flight of his henchmen under the lead of the Colonel Fares (Renzo Montagnani). Now, the second plot-line with Pivert and Salomon breaks insofar apart, as Pivert fires his chauffeur Salomon because he is refusing to help his boss out of a misery that he (Salomon) caused, driving their car into a lake - because it is Shabbes. However, again, the fact that Salomon is Jewish, is a little side-line again to the real Rabbi Jacob, who turns out to be his uncle. Therefore, from the second plot-line, only Pivert remains, and he soon meets Slimane, so that the second and the third plot-line merge. After a long and funny trip, they arrive just at Orly Airport where the real Rabbi Jacob and his assistant arrive (merging of the second and third with the first plot-line). And at this point, the road-movie goes over into a screwball comedy, because the Jewish grand-mother, the sister-in-law of the real Rabbi Jacob, takes Pivert and Slimane for the real couple, because they had themselves to disguise as rabbis on their flight from the Colonel Fares and his henchmen and are at that time in Orly, when the real Rabbi and his assistant are scheduled to arrive. Thus, Pivert and Slimane, neither Rabbis nor even familiar with basic Jewish customs, have to play their newly overtaken roles as good as it gets in order to escape Fares and the henchmen. Furthermore, another confusion is caused by the jealous wife of Pivert, Germaine (Suzy Delair), and her trial to get to her husband whom she suspects to have left her at the day of the marriage of their daughter with a "Therese Leduc", is also conceived in the form of road-trip, thus here we have a forth plot-line. One really has to watch this movie several times - not because it is so complicated, but because in order to scoop out the tremendous potential of truly effective humor that is in it. This film is doubtlessly De Funes greatest performance ever, he pulls out all the stops which he commands, there are even people saying that "Rabbi Jacob" remains to be the greatest French comedy made ever.

jenny-duthie I've just watched this again as the DVD is now available in France, I had no idea it had been subtitled in English as the version I've seen just has the original French - if you can watch it without subtitles to appreciate the original French humour it's worth it. I think one of the funniest scenes is when the loud over-the-top older Jewish lady meets LDF in his disguise as Rabbi Jacob at the airport & they talk about different types of fur coats in crazy accents & with the maddest wordplay ever I can't imagine how this was translated into English (especially as I'm a translator myself!). The film is totally ridiculous and combines wit with lots of visual humour, wordplay, the whole lot. As for the dance my 8 year old daughter does an excellent version of it! Louis de Funès - RIP. The world is definitely darker without him. I'm British and to my knowledge this film, and none of LDF's films are known in Britain which is a great pity, if anyone knows otherwise please put me right!

dbborroughs I first saw this when I was a kid on its first US release back in the early 1970's. I laughed to kill myself and thought it was one of the funniest things I had ever seen. The quest to see the movie again over the last 30 years has been a labor of love. I don't think it ever aired on New York TV and its showings on cable can be counted on one hand. I was lucky enough to see it a a local revival theater a few years ago before it completely disappeared. Thanks to E-Bay I recently picked up a VHS copy and now comes word that a US release on DVD is moments away. Life couldn't be better.The one thing the handful of viewings of the film has taught me is that the movie plays differently every time I see it. Depending on mood it I may find it to be one of the funniest or one of the most charming films movies ever made. Some sequences in one viewing will leave me gasping for breath while other times it will simply make me smile. No matter though I've enjoyed it each time I've watched it.The story of a bigot who gets way laid and ends up on the run all over France only to end up posing as a beloved Rabbi, is ripe with comic potential most of which is put to good use. Also put to good use are some twists that no rational person would come up with, but which work in the context of a wild comedy, the bubble gum factory for example.This is a wonderful life affirming story that makes you laugh until you cry while showing that ultimately we are all the same. Which is kind of tragic in view of the films opening shots which are some of the earliest film footage shot at the World Trade Center, which had just opened.If you like to laugh see this movie, its wonderful.