Change Your Image
FlorenZO
Reviews
Barnie et ses petites contrariétés (2001)
A good surprise
I expected the worse from "Barnie". Maybe because of Fabrice Luchini, a very french actor who always play the same part: himself. But this time he gets away from his usual "parisian-intimist" movies to bring us a real comedy. And for once, you laugh; not the cheesy way, not the Rohmerian-intellectual way but in a spontaneous way that makes you feel good and reconciliates you with french cinema (as it still remains VERY french).
Thanks to first time writer-director Bruno Chiche who just found the right balance between subtlety and fun, the film doesn't hesitate to go further than the average "marivaudage" film. And if the first part of the film in London with all its coincidences is a bit artificial, the second part in Barnie's house makes you forgive it as it solves everything in a few delightful scenes. The third part in the Orient Express is by far the weakest to me. It seems as if director Chiche absolutely wanted his movie to end as a Capra comedy, but his cynical character shouldn't have had a chance, and if so, then he should have been given a chance get from the audience a bit of compassion.
Anyway you get out of the theater very satisfied. For a first film, Bruno Chiche shows a lot of ease in every kind of scene and gives a lot of rhythm to the whole film. He is very well helped with his cast that's true (except for Marie Gillain, even if very pretty), but his camera, when not inspired is always efficient. It has to be said as it is rare enough in a french comedy.
Le placard (2001)
Well crafted, not as funny as "The Dinner Game".
No doubt Francis Veber is a great scriptwriter. Here again, after the hilarious "Diner de Cons", he gives us a solid story, always on the edge, avoiding both "fat humour" as french comedies usually are and intellectualism. Veber just has this ability to make every kind of people come see his movies and make them laugh. His writing is universal and popular without being stupid or corny. He does real comedies the clever way and he now has his unique style, even through his visual direction, maybe not always inspired but at least sober and efficient. In "Le Placard", despite strong characters and a great rhythm, I didn't laugh enough. I liked the film though which has a great atmosphere the whole time and dives you in a good mood. But I regret the "loud" part: Depardieu's character is simply not working and not funny.
Vercingétorix (2001)
Wow!
I rarely come out of a movie theater that excited. Actually, I had a hell of a good time. I didn't know someone would have the ability, in 2001, to make a movie SO terrible it is hilarious from start to finish.
The main problem with Vercingétorix (Druids) is that EVERYTHING is a problem within it: there honestly isn't one thing to save. From acting to music, from set designs to costumes, from editing to focus, nothing here doesn't drown in a "n'importe quoi". As it is impossible here to talk about everything, let's concentrate on what matters: direction. And that may be the worse. Director Dorfmann shows a unique talent for not knowing what he's doing. You can feel he doesn't know what to do with his actors, his camera, his story. Dialogue scenes are boring (but you don't believe in the characters for a second anyway); action scenes have no strength, with battles without choreography nor fights and extras who stop running too soon... Shot in Bulgaria, you sometimes wonder if the 2 crews (french and Bulgarian) understood each other. Still, that would only explain the technical problems, not the entire mess.
The most embarrassing in the end is to see that the entire movie theater is laughing out loud while watching this chaotic nonsense and, then, to discover that this actually cost money (80M Francs) and may be shown overseas as a "piece of french cinema".... No, this has nothing to see with filmmaking, and it definitely is a piece of anything but cinema.
Origine contrôlée (2001)
Unconvincing
Between comedy and drama, Origine Contrôlée fails on both sides. With a cruel lack of rhythm and originality in its situations and dramatic moments too weak and artificial, the movie never takes off. Over-written dialogues mixed with an unbelievable evolution of the relationship between the 3 leads doesn't give the audience a chance to fully enter the story. This is a movie that, perhaps, worked on the paper, but simply doesn't work on screen because of its inability to mix comedy ( with some really greasy moments) and its social content. While trying to do an "intelligent" comedy the british way, the two first-time directors prove you also need a perfectly written script to achieve so. And the starting point of the story here is so weak that the whole film collapses very quickly.
Comme un poisson hors de l'eau (1999)
Comedy failure
It seems to be a common thing in the 90's to play with cliches. Some manage to do so with great talent. Hervé Hadmar doesn't. On the paper, the movie looked interesting though: the weak plot could have been saved by great moments of comedy, dark humour, and a very "décalé" style. Director Hadmar, unfortunately, kills his direction with his camera angles and his absolute lack of rhythm. Every joke is embarassing as no one reacts in the theater. The movie is incredibly slow, and the actors seem to be wondering what the hell they're doing in this ridiculous mascarade. What could have been a stylish funny mindless comedy ends up being a cathedral of boredom.
Scarfies (1999)
Just well done
Having spent a few months in New Zealand, I had the chance to see Scarfies and it turned out to be a very good surprise. Many countries have bought the movie since so check it out, it could play soon at a theater near you. The characters, sharing a house in Dunedin, are what work best and succed where a film like "Shallow Grave" failed. Their development, going from pure comedy to dramatic/horrific moments doesn't come too artificially. The consequences of their discovery just make perfect sense in the way they act and in their relationships, but still manage to surprise you. And that's why you're stuck to your seat when one of the guys start to torture another one in the cave. Then the moments of fun you had half an hour before come back to memory and the movie takes another dimension: no, it's not just a farce. That's nice and neat on the surface, but pretty explosive inside. A last word to thank Mr Sarkies to have made a "non-teenage" teenage movie. He managed to avoid the trap of easy identifiyable characters as Hollywood does.
L'extraterrestre (2000)
Anything to save?
NO. There is nothing to save in this everything but funny comedy. And that's a shame considering its casting includes one of the once funniest comedians in France, Les Inconnus. Here, one of them (Didier Bourdon) directs, and that might have been the biggest mistake as he obviously can not act and direct at the same. Then when you realize he is also unable to direct an actor or have any idea of where to put a camera, you end up having one of the most untalented film ever made. Talking about the script, everything is one dimensional, from story to characters, not to mention the awful special effects that ruin the already miserable ending. If there was one thing to save in the chaos, that would be the very few bits where Campan manages to make you smile. But Bourdon's will to alternate comedy and drama with his character just make you forget that as he just is unbearable.
Memento (2000)
Had everything to be unwatchable, but ends up being just terrific
There is no way I will try to describe the unique storytelling process of the movie, but there's just one thing to say: it WORKS. And it works so well you just dive in it without noticing, and you're just hung at the film for the whole screening.
And when it comes to an end, you just need to see it again, which I didn't... And I regret it!
Anyway, definitely GO SEE the movie, there is an extremely inventive narrative talent to it, and it will remain a unique experience/experiment for both the audience and cinema.
Taxi 2 (2000)
A terrible pathetic miserable "daube"
In France, we have this word we use to qualify something really crap: "daube". Une daube is a piece of meat cooked for several hours at an insane temperature and served drawned in some scary sauce. Well, "Taxi 2" is exactly this: a big fat daube made by a bad french director who "wants to do something different inside french cinema" but who is so clueless about where to put his camera that all his car chases would make you think any B american movie has been made by a visual genius.
And Luc Besson who proudly produces the movie and wrote the script simply demonstrates once more that 1/ scriptwriting is really what he's worst at and 2/ he is not able to produce a french film the american way as he would like to: his film looks so french (in the wrong meaning).
Let's end this critic saying that a camera techie died on the making of the film, which is an unbearable thing: you don't make a movie in the rush, risking people's lives... but that's exactly what they did. If at least the movie had been good.