Camera d’Or Year 13 (1991): Jaco Van Dormael’s “Toto the Hero,” a Witty, Bittersweet Elegiac Comedy

Belgian Jaco Van Dormael wrote and directed Toto the Hero (Toto le héros), an engagingly witty, bittersweet comedy, which won the Camera d’or at the 1991 Cannes Film Fest, and the 1992 Cesar (French Oscar) for Best Foreign Film.

Grade: B+

Toto the Hero

The film was selected as the Belgian entry for the Best Fore9gn Language Film Oscar, but was not nominated.

Set in the near future, Toto the Hero tells the life story of an elderly man, Thomas Van Hasebroeck (dubbing himself Toto, after a childhood fantasy), looking back on his ordinary, seemingly uneventful life.

The tale unfolds as a series of flashbacks, interspersed with fantasies about how, in an alternate life, events might have turned out differently.

At the time, some critics claimed that it is not always possible to tell the difference between manufactured memories and fantasies, as Thomas is an unreliable narrator. However, some scenes (such as the one that features Toto as a secret agent) are definitely fantasized.

Thomas (played by French actor Michel Bouquet) firmly believes his life to have been “stolen” from him by Alfred Kant, who Thomas believes was inadvertently switched with himself as a baby. But the film remains ambiguous as to whether this substitution ever actually happened, with the only evidemce offered by Thomas’ vivid memory of the day he was born.

Thomas’ jealousy of Alfred has overshadowed all his life, with tragic consequences for his loved ones. Thus, his intended revenge is devising a plot to kill Alfred, but in the end, Thomas finds a more creative way to “take back” his life.

The film represents a winning blend of a kid’s fantasy and adult comedy, a vibrant, inventive, compassionate story full of contradictory emotions.

Van Dormael shows a witty eye for the absurd, and he he succeeds by rooting his film in emotional reality, making Thomas’ loves, desires and anxieties more poignant.

Cast
Michel Bouquet as Thomas (old man)
Jo De Backer as Thomas (adult)
Thomas Godet as Thomas (child)
Gisela Uhlen as Evelyne (old woman)
Mireille Perrier as Evelyne (young woman)
Sandrine Blancke as Alice
Michel Robin as Alfred (old’s voice)
Peter Böhlke as Alfred (old man)
Didier Ferney as Alfred (adult)
Hugo Harold Harrison as Alfred (child)
Fabienne Loriaux as Thomas’ Mother
Klaus Schindler as Thomas’ Father
Pascal Duquenne as Celestin (adult)
Karim Moussati as Celestin (child)
Didier De Neck as Mr. Kant
Christine Smeysters as Mrs. Kant
Jo Deseure as Sales Woman
Bouli Lanners as Gangster

Credits:

Directed by Jaco Van Dormael
Written by Didier De Neck, Pascal Lonhay, Van Dormael, Laurette Vankeerberghen
Produced by Pierre Drouot, Dany Geys, Luciano Gloor
Cinematography Walther Vanden Ende
Edited by Susana Rossberg
Music by Pierre Van Dormael

Release date: May 16, 1991(Cannes Film Fest)

Running time: 91 minutes

Caméra d’Or Winning Films (1978-Present)