∇
troperville

∇
tools

∇
toys

Must be Monday. New podcast! Just click on the fancy logo below.

SubpagesFilm
Main
YMMV

main index

Narrative

Genre

Media

Topical Tropes

Other Categories

random

Subpages:

Film: OSS 117 Lost In Rio

OSS 117: Lost in Rio (French: OSS 117: Rio ne r�pond plus) is the second of two French films detailing the comic misadventures of Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath, aka OSS 117, a bumbling French secret agent in the 1960s. In this installment 117 is sent to Rio to obtain a list of French WWII collaborators from an old Nazi. While there, he meets up with a foxy Israeli spy named Dolores who is determined to capture the Nazi. Both this film and its predecessor, OSS 117 Cairo Nest Of Spies star Jean Dujardin as OSS 117, a character who might be best described as Sean Connery's James Bond, if Bond were both amazingly stupid and kind of racist. Based on a not-at-all satirical series of French spy novels.

OSS 117: Lost in Rio provides examples of the following tropes:

Action Girl: Dolores.
Affectionate Parody: Of the early James Bond films and other sexy spy thrillers of The Sixties.
All Asians Are Alike: 117 can't remember which Asian country allied with the Nazis. He also calls all Asian people "Chinamen".
All Germans Are Nazis: 117 has heard about the theory that all Germans are not all Nazis. He doesn't think much of it. Ironically, he chastises Dolores for generalizing that all Nazis were SS.
Brazil Is Naziland
Awesome McCoolname: Bill Trumendous, the CIA agent.
Black Vikings: During the Nazi Party scene, a few of the SS officers in the backgrounds are black. That was probably intentional.
The Big Damn Kiss: Atop Christ the Redeemer. With fireworks.
Bilingual Bonus: The CIA agent swears at and insults 117 repeatedly in English, then laughs in his face. Also, his name is Bill Trumendous.
Call Back: The way 117 chases the villain down the walkways around the waterfall is the same way he chases the villain down the streets of Cairo in the previous film. He pauses at every intersection to look around before dashing off in one direction, even though this time he should be able to see the exact path to the villain no matter where he is.
Comically Missing the Point: 117 is sometimes utterly clueless and frequently misses the point.
Character Title
Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys: The CIA agent tells 117, "We're only allies when you need us to liberate you."
Chekhov's Gun: 117's fear of heights. Of course, he gets over it when needed.
- A significantly sillier version is the plans for the duck paddle boat 117 tucks into his breast pocket before going on his mission
Crosses the Line Twice: invoked 117's anti-semitic comments are one thing, having a Nazi war criminal rage against the unfairness of hunting them down by quoting none other than Shylock's famous speech...
Von Zimmel: I am a Nazi. Hath not a Nazi eyes? Hath not a Nazi hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? If you prick us, do we not bleed?
Distracted by the Sexy: 117 forgets about the mission when he sees topless girls on the beach.
Foot Popping: The last kiss between Dolores and 117.
Foreign Language Tirade: The CIA agent speaks French fine but enjoys insulting 117 in English.
Greedy Jew: Of course, as he explains to them, it's not because of this trope that he doesn't trust them with money.
Hollywood Darkness: In keeping with the parody, all night scenes are shot day-for-night on particularly sunny days so that it's quite obvious.
Hypercompetent Sidekick: Dolores
Hypocritical Humor: 117 thinks that all Germans are Nazis, but chastises Dolores for implying that all Nazis were SS. "Don't generalize!"
Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Parodied. 117 gets into several gunfights at close range and makes no attempt to dodge. In another scene while under a hailstorm of gunfire, he goes back to retrieve a briefcase full of money, then goes back to get his jacket and sunglasses, then pauses a third time as if wondering if he's forgotten anything else.
Incredibly Lame Pun: 117 makes a few. In the end, he exchanges puns on the name Lee until his superior tells him that it isn't funny anymore.
Insistent Terminology: 117 corrects the Mossad agents several times that his code number is "One Hundred Seventeen" ("Cent dix-sept"), not "Double-One Seven."
Intoxication Ensues: 117 does not know what LSD is.
I Take Offense to That Last One: 117 is told that he's misogynistic and borderline racist, but objects to being called a a tacky dresser.
Jerkass: Bill Trumendous.
Low Speed Chase: Parodied in the hospital, where 117 pursues the Nazi bad guy very slowly, as both are injured. With the appropriate chase music.
Malevolent Masked Men
Masked Luchador: The villain is also a South American wrestling promoter, and has two masked luchadores as henchmen... Nazi masked luchadores!
Monumental Battle: Atop the "Christ the Redeemer" statue.
Nazi Hunter: Dolores.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Lampshaded. 117 is relaxing at a party with a bunch of comely Chinese ladies when a squad of Chinese assassins burst into the room to kill him. 117 promptly engages in a gunfight that winds up with him and his girlfriend unscathed, but with all of the assassins and all of the other girls dead. As he stands among a pile of corpses 117 says, "That almost got bad."
A Party Also Known as an Orgy
Politically Correct History: Completely averted.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Dolores gives a long list of reasons why she's not attracted to 117. He only objects to the "tacky dresser" part.
Running Gag: The Chinese assassins trying to kill 117 for killing their brothers in Gsaadt. Eventually one kills Bill Trumedous for killing his brother, one of the assasins who tried to kill 117
Sexy Discretion Shot: Lampshaded. 117 and his girlfriend start getting busy, so the camera pans away to two birds on the windowsill — and the birds start having sex.
Split Screen: Used throughout, often for comedic purpose.
Split-Screen Phone Call: Parodied in a scene that winds up with a chain of over a dozen people on the phone and on screen at the same time.
Suspiciously Specific Denial: 117 makes it quite clear that the reason he won't leave the money with the Mossad is not because of all those things they say about Jews and money.
Take A Third Option:
Dolores: They want to make love, not war.
OSS 117: But both are possible.
Those Wacky Nazis: Again!
Tsundere: Dolores, who gets pushed by 117 pretty strongly to the tsun tsun side
Vertigo Effect: The whole scene is pretty blatantly stolen from Vertigo, in fact.