This funny line, uttered nearly 30 years ago, is one of the things that made him an iconic director.

It is both essential and unclassifiable in the landscape of French cinema. With films such as Adieu les idiots, Goodbye There and 9 Month Farm, Albert Dupont has won over both the public and his peers, most notably two Césars for Best Director. All while managing to maintain a unique style.

This style, which belongs to him alone, is a mixture of dark, crude humor and burlesque. Dupont He first established it on stage, and then presented it on the big screen in tornado mode in the mid-90s with the delusional Bernie. Completely bonkers, wickedly funny, politically incorrect and willingly cartoonish, this raunchy comedy is rich with scenes and lines, each as iconic as the next. Does the word “hyena” mean anything to you?

BernieReleased in theaters in 1996, it tells the story of Bernie Noel, who leaves an orphanage at the age of thirty. He has only one goal: to know his origin. So begins a trip strewn with traps for this neurotic boy, out of touch with the real world, who will sow disorder wherever he goes.

Very quickly, in the supposed bad taste of this joke, we find this character unlike any other in the presentation that Bernie himself made while filming himself. And from the very first words, it is absurdity and madness that prevails. Dupont.

An iconic replica born from improvisation

The controversial line, which can be found in the player below, shows Bernie talking about his crush on… hyenas! An amazing monologue born from improvisation “Made with a small team and I had a lot of fun”remembers Dupont At the microphone of our colleagues from BFM TV.

“My name is Bernie Noel and I like hyenas”Bernie shoots in front of the camera with character-specific catchphrases. “Because the hyena is an animal that we never talk about, even though it’s an animal that can be… it can be very important. Because I find that friendship with a hyena is often more important than friendship. With real friends is… He protects you if there was a danger and well.

“I’ve never really done comedies, just fun dramas”declares Albert DupontStill at the microphone Our colleagues from BFM TV. “Bernie Born from a very serious idea (in my eyes) which is the search for identity (…) this story came between a real foundation and a surreal expression in a few months.”

And the director continues: “Established drama, I try with many rewrites to give it the form of fantasy. My only goal is to entertain my contemporaries, even if the stories are dramatic and fit the world I feel like crossing…”

BernieBanned for children under 12 when it was released, it was nominated for a César for Best First Production. The feature film drew nearly 850,000 viewers to theaters.

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