Blueberry (2004)

Director:

Jan Kounen

Writers:

Matt Alexander (writer)
Gérard Brach (writer)

Release Date:

11 February 2004 (Belgium)

Genre:

Adventure | Western

Tagline:

When the angels kiss the demons,... you'd better be ready.

Plot:

In the 1870's, U.S Marshal Mike S. Blueberry tries to stop Wally Blount, the man who killed his girlfriend...

Plot Keywords:

Bizarre | Superstition Mountains | Female Nudity | Bounty Hunter | Desert

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Vincent Cassel	...	Mike Blueberry
Juliette Lewis	...	Maria Sullivan
Michael Madsen	...	Wallace Sebastian Blount
Temuera Morrison	...	Runi
Ernest Borgnine	...	Rolling Star
Djimon Hounsou	...	Woodhead
Hugh O'Conor	...	Young Mike Blueberry
Geoffrey Lewis	...	Greg Sullivan
Nichole Hiltz	...	Lola (as Nicole Hiltz)
Kateri Walker	...	Kateri
Vahina Giocante	...	Madeleine
Kestenbetsa	...	Kheetseen
Tchéky Karyo	...	Uncle
Eddie Izzard	...	Prosit
Colm Meaney	...	Jimmy McClure

Also Known As:

Blueberry: L'expérience secrète (France)
Muraya: L'expérience secrète de Mike Blueberry (France) (working title)
Renegade (USA)
The Adventures of Mike S Blueberry (France) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, sexuality, nudity and drug content.

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

France | Mexico | USA

Language:

English | German | French | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | South Korea:18 | Portugal:M/12 | Finland:K-15 | Germany:12 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Chihuahua, Mexico

Company:

A.J.O.Z. Films

Trivia:

Jan Kounen originally wanted Vincent Cassel to play the role of Prosit, but reconsidered and cast Eddie Izzard in the part instead

Quotes:

Wallace Sebastian Blount: Animals are beasts, but men are monsters.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Eddie Izzard: Sexie (2003) (V)

It's a Blueberry – not a raspberry.

Here's a trick you can try right now. For an immediate sneak-preview of Blueberry's peyote-soaked finale, scrunch the ball of your palms firmly into your eye sockets. The ensuing geometric light show is but a fraction of what's on offer in this loose adaptation of Jean 'Moebius' Giraud's comic strip. In the 1870s, wild-child Mike Blueberry (Cassel) is adopted by Chiracahua Indians and, Carlos Castaneda-style, initiated into their shamanic rituals. Later, as a small-town sheriff, he encounters an old nemesis, the mysterious Wally Blount (Madsen), on the hunt for hidden Indian 'gold', climaxing in an all-out, psychedelic showdown. Suffice to say, the treasure Blount seeks isn't of the bankable variety (but it glimmers all the same). Blueberry's pretty unique; its closest cousin is probably that other 'existentialist Western' El Topo. And like Jodorowsky's movie, it's mesmerising at best, unfocused and pretentious at worst. There's some gorgeous cinematography here, while the astonishing CGI-rendered visions (featuring multi-tentacled hydras and other entheogenic plant spirits commonly reported from such trips) not only make 2001's 'Star Gate' sequence look like a walk in the park, but have also been authenticated and approved by real-life South American shamans. That's partly the problem: director Kounen spent a long time researching among the shamans, and Blueberry does betray the conviction of the newly converted at the narrative's expense; the cast (including Eddie Izzard cameoing as a Prussian mercenary) often seem slightly bemused themselves. A failure, then, but a noble and courageous one.