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Reviews
Docteur Popaul (1972)
Pure waste of time
I've watched this film about thirty years ago and it stuck in my mind until now. When I came across it on DVD, I didn't hesitate too long, even more, because I have a predilection for early Belmondo flicks. But what a bad surprise! Some movies should be allowed to resign from public exposure, to preserve a certain memory, and not to shock audiences.
Widely hailed as one of Chabrol's rare cynic works, the only lasting impression I got from re- watching it is... boredom. Some movies really do not age in style. But what about movies which didn't have any sense of style at all?
The flaws in the script, uninspired acting - presumably due to the lack of direction -, a sort of production design, which doesn't deserve its name, less than mediocre photography and, last but not least, the worst editing job I've seen in ages, make this one truly hard to stand.
My impression was, that there was a bunch of people with too much money and equipment but obviously, no idea or any skills at all. It really comes as a surprise, that this one didn't abruptly end Chabrol's career. Don't blame it on the overall bad taste of the 70s, this one is crap in its own right and a worthy contender for the most useless waste of celluloid ever.
Trafic (1971)
What a pity!
As a big fan of Jacques Tati, it's terribly sad for me to state, that this film is surely his worst. And what's worse, compared to all his other classics, this one hasn't aged well.
I won't blame Tati for this, because after the financial disaster with the production of Playtime, it must have been extremely difficult to find investors again.
The obvious problem with Trafic is, that it's not a french comedy, but a french-belgian-dutch one. And this simply doesn't work. The plot line is hazardous, the supporting (amateur) actors are completely uninspired and surely far from any sort of "direction". The characters remain obscure and two-dimensional - even the one played by Jacques Tati himself - and do not manage to raise the viewer's interest or sympathy.
Jokes are badly and horribly slowly timed, the choreography, one of Tati's masterly domains, is wooden and uninspired. Worst of all is the editing, which is incredible. Scenes are cut and linked without any sense. I doubt that Jacques Tati can be held responsible for that. Anyway, this is just one big disappointment, and anyone who loves Tati's movies should stay away from this one. It makes your heart break to see, how bad a Tati movie can be.
Three stars are definitely three too many... but it's Jacques Tati...
The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997)
Lousy, absolutely lousy...
After fifteen minutes, I had the idea, that the title referred to the guy who wrote the script. After half an hour, I was completely sure. This movie (?) is lame, lousy and a complete waste of time. There's nothing that could be describes as "direction", the timing is horrible, the acting as wooden as a log and the jokes... *argh* Everything is totally predictable and annoying. Even if you're a fan of Bill Murray - like me - you won't find it amusing at all.
But to be honest, there's one excellent thing about this flick: Christopher Young's score is funny, cool and simply excellent! My recommendation is, forget the movie and get yourself the soundtrack CD. It's really everything the movie pretends to be.
L'aîné des Ferchaux (2001)
Why?
Nothing more to say. Except perhaps that the only reason to endure this sorry effort is Sami Naceri. He's not as convincing as in Petit Ben for instance, but this is rather due to the poorer than poor direction.
Anyway, I'll never understand why there are people out there feeling the need to foozle a masterpiece with their less than mediocre efforts.
The same thing is bound to happen when next year the assault on "Le Deuxième Soufflé" will happen to see the light of day.
What about a little respect for the work of a genius? It should be common knowledge, that the films of Jean-Pierre Melville can't be surpassed. Who's gonna save us from such a crap when even the french start to beat the Americans when it comes to making trashy remakes of their masterpieces? What's next? A remake of "Le Samourai" starring Tom Cruise? Argh!
Il piccolo diavolo (1988)
What the hell is this?
It's crazy, it's hilarious, it's grotesque and it's at least pure fun. The combination of Matthau's stoical yet strained mimics with Benigni's clownesque and provocative acting is one of the most surprising comedies from Italy ever. But it's not just pure comedy, it's definitely a satiric assault on religion, social behaviour and some more holy cows. Even more, it's incredible, how Matthau and Benigni are acting - and interacting. I'll bet that you've never seen Matthau look closer to desperation since The Odd Couple. And Lemmon was a sheer blessing compared to what he is confronted with here. And I still wonder how they ever managed to produce this movie. Anyway, catch this devil if you can, you won't regret it!
Solaris (2002)
Pierrot Le Fou in space
Yes, like all good movies which deal with a certain future, this one too is destined to arouse interpretations. And what could be a better and more justified proof of the impact of any work of art?
But besides all this, I was quite a bit amazed, that no one ever mentioned what seems to be the most obvious impression to me. That this is one of the most radical films about love that were ever made. To me, this is the perfect paraphrase about guilt, human failure, hope, final decisions and redemption. And in all this, Solaris resembles the only other movie which ever dared to put such questions and answered them the same way: Jean-Luc Godard's "Pierrot Le Fou". Especially the end of both films is so incredibly similar and, yes, radical that it is hardly to believe.
PS: I only hope and pray that the studios will decide to finally release the uncut version of this masterpiece which is about twice as long as the one that was released on DVD.
Le môme (1986)
How close can you get to Melville?
Briefly said, this is Alain Corneau's third attempt - after Police Python 357 and Choix Des Armes - to create a Film Noir in the manner of Jean-Pierre Melville. An like in the other two films, his attempt was (more or less) successful. Like his idol, he is very good in selecting the right locations and creating a mood of nightly jeopardy. The greatest difference is his lack of trust in the pictures which often results in unnecessary dialogues. But apart from that, Corneau was the only director who really managed to get close to Melville. And from his three crime movies, this is surely the best one - if you don't think of the first 30 minutes of Police Python and the last 30 minutes of Choix. It would be interesting to know, why this is the one which is practically nowhere to be seen.
PS: As another funny example of German renaming, this one was called Blues Cop.
The Gunrunner (1989)
Not the unknown masterpiece but...
Quite an interesting film indeed, very smoothly directed and easily played without ruining it by too much talking. The only thing I couldn't help thinking all the time was, that this looked as if it was a film by Alan Rudolph and even Costner and his way of acting looked a lot as if the director had intended to cast Keith Carradine instead. Even the soundtrack seems to imitate Mark Isham and if you close your eyes, it's sometimes hard not to be perplexed by the closeness to "Choose Me" or perhaps "The Moderns" - by the mood, not the story! The most surprising thing is, that the movie works, though. In fact, this is one of the best screen appearances of Costner I've seen, at least because he avoids the usual grinning and concentrates on the driven and melancholy character.