2023-06-02 15:52:28
Philippe Pozzo di Borgo, the man who inspired the character of François Cluzet in “Intouchables”, by Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache is dead.
Philippe Pozzo di Borgo, the man who inspired the character of François Cluzet in Untouchables, died at the age of 72. Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache, who directed this successful feature film released in 2011, announced it this Friday on Twitter. Information confirmed at Parisian by the brother of Philippe Pozzo di Borgo.
“By accepting that we adapt his story in ‘Intouchables’ he has changed our lives and the lives of many vulnerable and fragile people”, writes the filmmaker duo.
“We keep the image of a courageous, dignified, humble and combative man. We will miss his humor and his intelligence”, they added on Facebook.
Omar Sy, who replied to François Cluzet in the film, also reacted on Instagram posting the same message.
“Two desperadoes looking for a way out”
Philippe Pozzo di Borgo, a wealthy French businessman from an aristocratic family, was director of Pommery champagnes, as reported Free Charente. A paragliding accident in 1993 left him quadriplegic. A few years later, he was struck by the death of his wife. It was then that Abdel Yasmin Sellou, an immigrant living in the Parisian suburbs, came into his life as a carer.
“I was 42, he was 21. We were two desperadoes who were looking for a way out: the rich tetra, mad with grief at having lost his wife, and the young boss who comes out of jail and wants to do everything jump”, he said in 2011 to the ‘Parisian‘. “Two guys on the fringes of society who lean on each other.”
This friendship inspired him to write a first book, The Second Windwhich will serve as the basis for Untouchables. The feature film highlighted the special relationship that was established between these two men who are opposites, symbol of an encounter between two worlds, oscillating between emotion and comedy. A critical and public hit, it had achieved nearly 20 million admissions in France and exceeded 10 million in revenue in the United States. An American remake of Neil Burger, starring Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart in the lead roles, was released in 2017.
“Fragility is a plus”
Philippe Pozzo di Borgo has since published other works, the last of which, The Motionless Walker, was released in 2022 by Albin Michel editions. For years he had been living in Essaouira with Khadija, his second wife, and their two adopted children.
“Fragility is a plus”, he confided at the end of 2021 to ‘West France‘. “Our society too often uses force to find a solution to a problem. This is not the right method. We must consider fragility, difference, with great attention, tenderness, respect and, above all, with intend to do something about it.”
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