Highest honors go to this stylish, cinematically refined adaptation of a George Simenon thriller. Michel Blanc becomes a person of interest for a murder investigation mainly because he’s disliked and anti-social; Sandrine Bonnaire is the neighbor that he peeps at nightly, to stir his secret passion. Director Patrice Leconte directs with almost perfect control, turning the show into an emotional workout.
Monsieur Hire
Blu-ray
Cohen Film Collection
1989 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 79 min. / Street Date October 25, 2022 / Available from / 29.95
Starring: Michel Blanc, Sandrine Bonnaire, Luc Thuillier, André Wilms, Eric Bérenger, Marielle Berthon, Philippe Dormoy, Marie Gaydu, Michel Morano, Nora Noël.
Cinematography: Denis Lenoir
Production Designer: Ivan Maussion
Costume designer: Elisabeth Tavernier
Film Editor: Joëlle Hache
Original Music: Michael Nyman
Scenario, adaptation and dialogue by Patrice Leconte, Patrick Dewolf from the book Les fiançailles de M. Hire by Georges Simenon
Produced by Philippe Carcassonne, René Cleitman
Directed by Patrice Leconte
We’re fond...
Monsieur Hire
Blu-ray
Cohen Film Collection
1989 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 79 min. / Street Date October 25, 2022 / Available from / 29.95
Starring: Michel Blanc, Sandrine Bonnaire, Luc Thuillier, André Wilms, Eric Bérenger, Marielle Berthon, Philippe Dormoy, Marie Gaydu, Michel Morano, Nora Noël.
Cinematography: Denis Lenoir
Production Designer: Ivan Maussion
Costume designer: Elisabeth Tavernier
Film Editor: Joëlle Hache
Original Music: Michael Nyman
Scenario, adaptation and dialogue by Patrice Leconte, Patrick Dewolf from the book Les fiançailles de M. Hire by Georges Simenon
Produced by Philippe Carcassonne, René Cleitman
Directed by Patrice Leconte
We’re fond...
- 1/28/2023
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Fanfan La Tulipe (Cannes)
Out of Competition
CANNES -- Talk about an identity crisis. "Fanfan la Tulipe", directed by Gerard Krawczyk and written by Jean Cosmos and Luc Besson, wants to be a charming satire of swashbuckling epics. But this lead-footed affair can never find its comic rhythms. Instead, it wanders sadly through routine action sequences, mixing slapstick with derring-do yet never generating any wit or romance. Despite having Vincent Perez and Penelope Cruz as its leads, "Fanfan" should win few fans in its native France. Indeed, moviegoers may resent this buffoonish remake of the classic 1951 movie starring Gerard Philippe and Gina Lollabrigida.
The film, a curiously lackluster choice to open the 56th Festival de Cannes, opens in France this week.
Fanfan is a beloved character of 18th century France, a brash soldier in the army of Louis XV who, despite a disrespect for authority and defiance of social conventions, wins the day and his lady love through his courage, fighting skill and saucy wit.
As Fanfan, Perez has the right idea in his lighthearted, athletic approach, but the script and direction fail him at every turn. He prances through the movie without ever becoming a part of it. He makes love to women and fights many a man but never connects with anyone.
Cruz as Adeline, the gorgeous daughter of the recruiting sergeant, stands on the sideline, cheering Fanfan on -- and occasionally firing a pistol to save his butt -- but even she fails to catch his eye for long. Why is her heart so set on him, you wonder?
The film's comic thrusts are third-rate Mel Brooks without the great jokes and one-liners. The characters are mostly goofs on movie roles in the swashbuckling films of old, so there are no surprises here. If a priest shows up, you know he will be a drunken reprobate. The king is incalculably stupid, the sergeant a coward and every officer an egotistical fool.
Krawczyk's direction may please children, like those who cheer on Fanfan in the movie, but everyone else will most likely be disheartened by the lame gags and misfired comedy. If you want to spoof swashbucklers, shouldn't the King of France (Didier Bourdon) be more than a glorified dress extra? Shouldn't the villain's (Gerald Leroche) treachery contain a degree of menace? Shouldn't Fier-a-Bras (Philippe Dormoy), so determined to destroy Fanfan, be a cunning fellow? And if you bring on the age's great mistress, Madame de Pompadour (Helene De Fougerolles), shouldn't she be more than an insipid supermodel?
The $15 million production makes decent use of a few of France's ancient chateaux, and its period costumes, while a tad too spick-and-span, are effective. The fights are tame by today's high standards, neither clever enough to create tension nor comic enough to inspire laughs.
The movie's most satiric moments come in chaotic battle sequences, where masses of soldiers slaughter one another without a clue why they are doing so. The film takes the view that war in that era was the sport of the royals, even if the king often can't tell which men are his. A rascal like Fanfan getting mixed up in such murderous foolishness might have sparked some dark comedy. Alas, the new "Fanfan" seems based less on the old movie than on children's puppet shows.
FANFAN LA TULIPE
A EuropaCorp production with Open Art Prods and FI1 Films Production in association with Canal Plus and CNC
Credits:
Director: Gerard Krawczyk
Screenwriters: Jean Cosmos, Luc Besson
Producers: Michel Feller, Luc Besson
Executive producer: Bernard Grenet
Director of photography: Gerard Simon
Production designer: Jacques Bufnoir
Costume designer: Olivier Beroit
Music: Alexandre Azaria
Editor: Nicolas Trembasiewicz
Cast:
Fanfan: Vincent Perez
Adeline: Penelope Cruz
King Louis XV: Didier Bourdon
Madame de Pompadour: Helene De Fougerolles
Tranche-Montagne: Michel Muller
Fier-a-Bras: Philippe Dormoy
La Franchise: Jacques Frantz
Corsini: Gerald Leroche
Running time -- 98 minutes
No MPAA rating...
CANNES -- Talk about an identity crisis. "Fanfan la Tulipe", directed by Gerard Krawczyk and written by Jean Cosmos and Luc Besson, wants to be a charming satire of swashbuckling epics. But this lead-footed affair can never find its comic rhythms. Instead, it wanders sadly through routine action sequences, mixing slapstick with derring-do yet never generating any wit or romance. Despite having Vincent Perez and Penelope Cruz as its leads, "Fanfan" should win few fans in its native France. Indeed, moviegoers may resent this buffoonish remake of the classic 1951 movie starring Gerard Philippe and Gina Lollabrigida.
The film, a curiously lackluster choice to open the 56th Festival de Cannes, opens in France this week.
Fanfan is a beloved character of 18th century France, a brash soldier in the army of Louis XV who, despite a disrespect for authority and defiance of social conventions, wins the day and his lady love through his courage, fighting skill and saucy wit.
As Fanfan, Perez has the right idea in his lighthearted, athletic approach, but the script and direction fail him at every turn. He prances through the movie without ever becoming a part of it. He makes love to women and fights many a man but never connects with anyone.
Cruz as Adeline, the gorgeous daughter of the recruiting sergeant, stands on the sideline, cheering Fanfan on -- and occasionally firing a pistol to save his butt -- but even she fails to catch his eye for long. Why is her heart so set on him, you wonder?
The film's comic thrusts are third-rate Mel Brooks without the great jokes and one-liners. The characters are mostly goofs on movie roles in the swashbuckling films of old, so there are no surprises here. If a priest shows up, you know he will be a drunken reprobate. The king is incalculably stupid, the sergeant a coward and every officer an egotistical fool.
Krawczyk's direction may please children, like those who cheer on Fanfan in the movie, but everyone else will most likely be disheartened by the lame gags and misfired comedy. If you want to spoof swashbucklers, shouldn't the King of France (Didier Bourdon) be more than a glorified dress extra? Shouldn't the villain's (Gerald Leroche) treachery contain a degree of menace? Shouldn't Fier-a-Bras (Philippe Dormoy), so determined to destroy Fanfan, be a cunning fellow? And if you bring on the age's great mistress, Madame de Pompadour (Helene De Fougerolles), shouldn't she be more than an insipid supermodel?
The $15 million production makes decent use of a few of France's ancient chateaux, and its period costumes, while a tad too spick-and-span, are effective. The fights are tame by today's high standards, neither clever enough to create tension nor comic enough to inspire laughs.
The movie's most satiric moments come in chaotic battle sequences, where masses of soldiers slaughter one another without a clue why they are doing so. The film takes the view that war in that era was the sport of the royals, even if the king often can't tell which men are his. A rascal like Fanfan getting mixed up in such murderous foolishness might have sparked some dark comedy. Alas, the new "Fanfan" seems based less on the old movie than on children's puppet shows.
FANFAN LA TULIPE
A EuropaCorp production with Open Art Prods and FI1 Films Production in association with Canal Plus and CNC
Credits:
Director: Gerard Krawczyk
Screenwriters: Jean Cosmos, Luc Besson
Producers: Michel Feller, Luc Besson
Executive producer: Bernard Grenet
Director of photography: Gerard Simon
Production designer: Jacques Bufnoir
Costume designer: Olivier Beroit
Music: Alexandre Azaria
Editor: Nicolas Trembasiewicz
Cast:
Fanfan: Vincent Perez
Adeline: Penelope Cruz
King Louis XV: Didier Bourdon
Madame de Pompadour: Helene De Fougerolles
Tranche-Montagne: Michel Muller
Fier-a-Bras: Philippe Dormoy
La Franchise: Jacques Frantz
Corsini: Gerald Leroche
Running time -- 98 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 5/15/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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