FlorenZO

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.

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.

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.