User reviews

A failure at school, Thierry (Gerard Sandoz) does odd jobs at the local zoo in exchange for lessons from the lion tamer Frazier (Gabriel Monnet). He meets another trainee Roselyne (Isabelle Pasco) and they fall in love. Frazier dismisses Thierry for disobedience and Roselyne leaves with him. With the help of Thierry's English teacher Bracquard (Philippe Clevenot) they travel across France looking for work. They join a circus but are not allowed to work with the lions. Finally they join Koenig's circus in Munich. Roselyne is employed as the performer with Thierry as the trainer. Here they meet the tiger trainer Klint (Gunter Meisner).

Disappointing performances by Isabelle Pasco and Gerard Sandoz, but Gunter Meisner is good as the tiger trainer who has lost his nerve. All the elements which made the director's previous films "Diva" and "Betty Blue" so enjoyable seem to be missing here: a strong storyline, fine acting by the leads, even a good musical score. Instead Beineix relies too much on his talent for good visuals and the excitement generated between the performers and the lions.

An extended version, in 2 parts (40 minutes longer), has been made but never shown in the theaters. It was only shown on TV. I think it improves the film, getting us to know the main characters better, especially Thierry, with all the scenes in his High School, not included in the main version. It gives more sense to the whole script, which then holds better than the shorter one. I have sent the update for this extended version to IMDb, and it has been recorded under the reference 050423-085733-754000. It includes the name of the actors playing the parts of Thierry's teachers, who are not acknowledged in the cast of the main version. I don't know is this extended version exists on DVD, but, if it does, I would recommend people to get it and watch it.