OSS 117: From Africa with Love

I’ve been a fan of Jean DuJardin’s OSS117 films since seeing “Lost in Rio” in 2010 with Hannah & Paul, and it’s been a bit of a hard sell to bring other people on this ride with me… but me ol’ chum Wazza the Irish fella (who speaks French and lives in I think Portugal?) alerted me to the release of this 3rd instalment last year, and I finally tracked it down on streaming to watch. A new director’s brought a different tone to the fundamentally silly yet typically French spy’s character, and I’ve been really struggling with working out what I thought of this film.  Monsieur Bonisseur-de-la-Bath’s racist, sexist, oblivious & low-key boorish manner was always portrayed with the most loving frame of irony; but less so in this film, which made a point of highlighting what an anachronism he is – and I found myself wondering whether the film was trying to make a point? Very different from its predecessors, I thought. Or, maybe I’m overthinking it – I suspect a lot of the cultural references are lost on my non-French background, and plus I have to rely on the translations of the subtitles.