On June 19, 1986, Michel Denisot cried live on television: that day, he announced the death of Coluche, who had become one of his close friends, as for millions of people in France. Forty years after his disappearance in a motorcycle accident near Grasse, the former host dedicated a documentary to him, guided by this question: “Who is Coluche to you? »
Clown character, Michel Colucci became known in the 1970s in the theater through sketches that have become legendary. The first great comedian on the Canal+ channel where he presents a humorous television newscast, he “accompanies all French television innovation”, in the words of director Adrien Dénouette. Coluche breaks the codes.
Provocative, sharp, even disturbing, his humor, far from being unanimous, is put at the service of his political and social battles. Having become a national symbol – and even a provisional presidential candidate… –, Coluche became “the most powerful transmitter in the country with the President of the Republic” – François Mitterrand – supported Harlem Désir, founder of the SOS Racisme association that the comedian would join. In 1985, the comedian launched Restos du coeur, which will survive him.
“The evil of the century is bullshit”
It is a portrait full of finesse and nostalgia that Michel Denisot paints, interviewing his closest friends – Ludovic Paris and Jean-Marie Marion – but also the former general director of Canal+ Pierre Lescure, today’s comedians and actors (Jérémy Ferrari, Jérôme Commandeur, Claudia Tagbo…), the actress Béatrice Dalle, Coluche’s youngest son, Marius Colucci, and even Jean Glavany, close collaborator of François Mitterrand. “The evil of the century is bullshit,” said Coluche. How would he have approached today’s world?
