Filipp Pocco Di Borgo Dokumentaljnij Filjm

Their friendship was unlikely because Philippe, who is the second son of a French duke, was born into a life of great wealth and privilege. Abdel was a career criminal from Algeria who had immigrated to France and had only applied for the job of Philippe’s carer so that he could keep claiming his income support. He was, according to Philippe, a short man with a square face who was “intolerable, vain and arrogant”.

But, as Philippe explains to me as we sit in his beautiful modernist villa in Essaouira, Morocco – “at the end of the world” – he spotted something in Abdel that others could not see. His sweet craziness. “He didn’t feel sorry for me – he was irreverent, cheeky and had an outrageous sense of humour. I suddenly found I was enjoying life again, feeling like I didn’t know what was coming next. “Nothing stopped this guy. I knew he wouldn’t flinch and could take the initiative.” He had interviewed about 90 people and knew as soon as he met Abdel that: “This is the guy I need. I don’t give a damn that he is out of jail.

Sep 5, 2012 - The second thing you notice about Philippe Pozzo di Borgo is his smile – it is engaging and generous. The first is his wheelchair. Aug 3, 2012 - Coping with Paralysis 'If There Is a God, He Is Certainly Not to Blame'. Philippe Pozzo di Borgo's story was the basis for the hit film 'The Intouchables.' Koch and Pozzo di Borgo are two men who have suffered the same bitter fate. As the offspring of the counts of Pozzo di Borgo.

I needed him. And he became a friend afterwards.” As well as sharing a sense of humour, they were both on the margins of society – a disabled man and a criminal. That, he thinks, explains why they came to depend on each other, enrich each other’s lives and bridge the race and class divide.