AllMovie

This French film updates a classic tale by Voltaire and uses it as an allegory in which divisions of race and class are explored. In the film, Ingenu (Renaud Verly) is a native of India, working in another country. His charms beguile the youngest daughter of an upper-class family, and she falls in love with him and wants to marry him. This upsets the family for several reasons: he is not wealthy, he is dark-skinned, and he is not of their class. Indeed, before he came along, the daughter was slated to marry a wealthy business tycoon who, even though he was not of the "right" class, at least had money and the right skin color.