I saw this wonderful short light hearted almost silent French film Apibeurdze (Happy Birthday) by Director Basile Charpentier starring Phillippe Rebbot
It is a story about a 45-year odd divorcee reclusive and eccentric Pascal (Phillippe Rebbot) who lives in a lonely remote life in a shack-like house away from the town at a Corsican countryside home along with his dog.
He wakes up one morning to realize it is his daughter's birthday. He sees a picture stuck on his refrigerator - drawn by his daughter of a Fire-brigade Engine vehicle (FBEV) and thus decides to buy a gift for his daughter - a toy of a small FBEV.
Thus he collects small change of coins and starts his journey on his small moped along with his dog (Lenny) to go to the town small store where he does buy a FBEV toy and a chocolate.
Right then he runs out of petrol in his moped and thus steals petrol from a car parked there - where a young girl (Alias Gailo) sitting in the car snatches the toy FBEV. Pascal lures the girl with the chocolate and retrieves his FBEV toy but due to his dog's mischief who is sitting on the back seat of his moped - meets with an accident and breaks his FBEV toy.
Leaving his broken moped on the highway he runs back to his workshop and tries to repair, stick and cello-tape the broken FBEV toy but mistakenly sets the place on fire.
On this side - It is evening and his ex-wife and daughter come to visit him at his shackle-like home - only to find Pascal missing there - but the drawing of the FBEV on the table.
At that time - they hear the FBEV sound outside and when the daughter runs out to find her father Pascal stepping out of the FBEV which he has called to extinguish the fire at his workshop (which is a few miles away)
The movie ends with Pascal taking his daughter along with her inside the FBEV and both going to extinguish the fire. The daughter is delighted and happy to receive such a wonderful HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIFT
This is a small and sweet movie - almost shot without any dialogues - just moving events and actions. The movie appeals to the universality of LOVE shown by a poor father and his love for daughter. To what extent he goes to get the FBEV and make her happy.
The ending is good - seeing the daughter happy is so heart-warming.
Writer Director Basile Charpentier has done a marvelous job with this short movie. Philippe Rebbot fills up life in the character of Pascal - and the state of apathy and loneliness he lives but struggles to show his LOVE for his daughter
Director Basile has also succeeded in keeping the dialogues of the movie to the minimum - almost NIL - and let the scenes and events talk for itself - which creates an universal appeal of empathy as there is no dissonance in not understanding a foreign language film.
Director Basile is a physical Therapist for Prisoners and writing is his passion and hobby. To me it seems - he must have germinated this story-idea from the real life incident of a prisoner who might have narrated such a story.
I would go with 7.5 out of 10 for this film - worth watching.
