The Closet (French: Le placard) is a 2001 French comedy film written
and directed by Francis Veber. It is about a man who pretends to be
homosexual to keep his job, with absurd and unexpected
consequences.François Pignon, an unassuming divorced man with a
teenage son who ignores him, lives a quiet and unremarkable life. When
he learns he will be fired from his job as an accountant in a rubber
factory, he contemplates suicide, but his new neighbor Jean-Pierre
Belone, a former industrial psychologist, dissuades him from jumping
from his balcony and suggests a way to keep his position. Belone
proposes that Pignon start a rumor he is homosexual by inserting his
image in sexually provocative snapshots of a gay couple in a bar and
anonymously mailing them to his boss, Mr. Kopel. The factory's primary
product is condoms, so the gay community's support is essential, and
Kopel will have to keep Pignon on the payroll to avoid charges of
anti-homosexual bigotry.Pignon does not change his usual mild and
self-effacing behavior and mannerisms in any way as part of his
masquerade. But his supervisors and co-workers begin to regard him in
a new light, seeing him as exotic rather than dull, and his life
becomes unexpectedly and dramatically better. Félix Santini, a
homophobic co-worker who used to harass him, is warned he could be
fired for discrimination if he continues to belittle Pignon, so he
begins to make friendly overtures.The company enters a float in a
local gay pride parade, and Pignon is coerced into riding on it; his
estranged son sees him in the televised broadcast of the parade and
tells his mother. The son is thrilled to learn his father, whom he has
always considered bland and boring, has a wilder side, and expresses
an interest in spending more time with him. His suspicious ex-wife
invites Pignon to dinner and demands an explanation. He has by this
point gained enough self-confidence to tell her exactly what he thinks
of her. The Closet (2001 film) Biography, NetWorth, Height, Age, Weight, Family, Married, Son, Daughter