Counting down to the EFAs | Untouchable

Country: France

Directors, screenwriters: Olivier Nakache, Eric Toledano

Starring: François Cluzet, Omar Sy and Anne Le Ny

NOMINATED FOR: Best Film, Actor (François Cluzet, Omar Sy), Screenwriter (Olivier Nakache, Eric Toledano)

Though it may deal with broadly-similar subject matter - the care of a paralysed, culturally-cultivated protagonist - Untouchable stands as the upbeat polar opposite to Haneke's artful piece of slow-burning misery that is Amour (another top contender at this year's European Film Awards).

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The (inspired-by-a-true-) story also recalls Scent of a Woman, pitting the energetic French comic actor Omar Sy (Micmacs) as the social-benefit-scrounger Driss, who becomes the unlikely new carer to a paralysed-from-the-neck-down aristocrat, Philippe (François Cluzet). 

Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano's accessible and light buddy comedy offers virtually nothing in terms of originality or any outward artistic worthiness, but contrary to being a manipulative piece of fluff - an accusation levelled at it by the European critical elite - it boasts great energy and heart, making an irresistibly uplifting experience.

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And strangely, it sustains yet another similarity to Amour: it triumphs on the strength of a shrewd and delicate balancing act between its two leads.

Half the work of playing the odd-couple is done for them by virtue of casting, of course - Sy is a towering-but-slinky presence; Cluzet is small and withdrawn, but with a cheeky twinkle in his eyes - but the two play to each other's strengths with a refreshing zing, gliding through the many life-affirming set pieces that colour their joint journey of self-discovery as their friendship grows from one of pure convenience to something more meaningful.

It may not be a probing examination of the human condition. But Untouchable is a rare (and therefore precious) thing: a comedy strung together by genuine joy, instead of a series of cheap gags.