Doppelgänger wider Willen

La Gueule de l'autre is a French comedy film with a satirical look at political values.

The film starts in 1978 Paris. In the middle of the presidential election, Martial Perrin, president of the "parti centriste des Conservateurs Indépendants Progressistes" (CIP), learns that Richard Krauss, an old mercenary convicted for taking violent action against the Djibouti government when the latter was still a French colony, has escaped from prison. In his trial, he had publicly promised to kill every man who had stood in the way of his Coup d'état. Martial Perrin is one of those men.

Hours after Krauss' escape, the first murders in his old entourage are announced. Martial Perrin is now so terrified that he acts like a tracked animal: staying away from the windows and sources of light, exiting his home only by back doors, not even wanting to make public speeches. His behavior quickly becomes a standing joke among his fellow politicians and rivals. Therefore, Jean-Louis Constant, his councilor, advises him to be replaced by his cousin and look-alike, Gilbert Brossard, until the Krauss is caught and imprisoned. The latter finds out that not only is his task amusing, but it is also the perfect way to fool the police, population, politicians and even his cousin's wife in bed! A face-to-face meeting is organised with a spokesman of a rival political party, in which Brossard will have to use every last bit of his talent to imitate the great Perrin...whilst being as pathetic as the real one. Will the killer be fooled by this subterfuge? That is the question.