'Untouchable' Analysis

As a class, we watched the film 'Untouchable' directed and produced by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano. It tells the story of an aristocrat that hires a young man to become his carer as a result of becoming a quadriplegic from a paragliding accident. Themes that are present in this story are acceptance, friendship, confidence and fear. The film shows representations of race, disability, issues and class.

A scene which highlighted representations of race and class were when Driss (Omar Sy) was waiting to be seen by Phillipe (Francois Cluzet) and his assistant Magalie. Driss was slumped in his seat, in a tracksuit and trainers whilst the rest of the men were dressed in smart suits with their briefcases. This was a representation of class through clothing, showing that higher class males dress in smarter clothing and are clean and well dressed compared to lower class citizens who don't care about their clothing. The contrast between the bathrooms emphasised the difference in Class in the bathroom scenes. Towards the beginning of the film, Driss was shown in his bathroom in his flat with young children running around whilst he was trying to have some privacy, and he was shown to be cramped up in a very small bath, later contrasting to bathroom Driss is given when he moves into Philippe's house, which is very extravagant and Driss is noticeably shocked by the beauty of the bathroom aswell. Race was also highlighted in this scene because in the line of those applying for the job, Driss was the only black person. This was a negative representation of race showing that black people shouldn't be able to apply for work in a place of high class, and as well as this, it emphasised the stereotype of black people wearing tracksuits and being slouchy as Driss was seen as a big contrast in both clothing and body language compared to the other applicants.

Gender was represented in a positive light in this film, because stereotypically a woman would be expected to pursue the career of a carer, however in this film a male took on this occupation. It showed that men can be of a caring nature aswell and that they are capable of looking after people with disabilities. I reason I enjoyed this film was because it emphasised the friendship between 2 males, which in most films, is not the case as the focus is on a relationship between a man and a woman, so as a result of this I found this film that little bit more intriguing. Disability was also highlighted in a positive light, because the character of Philippe showed that no matter what the disability, these people are no different to anyone else, and can do and participate in the same activities as everyone else can. A scene that was significant showed how the character has changed as paragliding was the activity that left Philippe unable to move, so by showing him enjoying this activity with Driss displayed the impact he has had on his life.


Overall, I really enjoyed this film!