ulicknormanowen
Joined Dec 2019
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At a masked ball, Jean-Pierre, a young, unknown composer, aided by his friend Albert, manages to convince a music hall director to stage his operetta. During rehearsals, Jean-Pierre discovers that the young violet seller, with whom he had fallen in love at the ball, is actually the star singer of the show.
And she betrays Jean-Pierre, by starring in his rival's variety show ; thus ,the screenplay is rather thin,and half of the time is given over to performances on stage ;it was the time when most of the people were not able to afford these shows ,and the movie theater was a cheap way to attend them; the radio was also very important (see the old lady in the cafe and her obsolete set).
The only reason why you would sit through this endless glittering show is Geneviève Page , one of the best French actresses (who did not yet possess her low-pitched voice,her signature)who enjoyed a brilliant career on stage and on the silver screen ,working with Luis Bunuel,Anthony Mann and Billy Wilder;she passed away last February ,age 97.
And she betrays Jean-Pierre, by starring in his rival's variety show ; thus ,the screenplay is rather thin,and half of the time is given over to performances on stage ;it was the time when most of the people were not able to afford these shows ,and the movie theater was a cheap way to attend them; the radio was also very important (see the old lady in the cafe and her obsolete set).
The only reason why you would sit through this endless glittering show is Geneviève Page , one of the best French actresses (who did not yet possess her low-pitched voice,her signature)who enjoyed a brilliant career on stage and on the silver screen ,working with Luis Bunuel,Anthony Mann and Billy Wilder;she passed away last February ,age 97.
" The Way "(aka "la route ensemble" ) (2010)directed by Emilio Estevez starred his own father,Martin Sheen, as Tom Avery , an American doctor , who must travel to France after the death of his son ,Daniel , who had embarked on the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela . Tom decides to transport his son 's ashes and make the pilgrimage himself ...
"A Bicyclette" registers the same desire ;a father wants to do what his son ,Youri,did five years ago : a trip to Istambul by bike (except for the mountains :they use coaches and trains)with his best pal ;Youri committed suicide ,his was a professional clown and clowns are not always happy:no explanation is given.
The proloque,which involves famous faces of the French cinema,is wonderful in its simplicity ; a photo album,and the desire to find traces Youri may have left all along the way to turkey;a road movie,a bit uneven ,but endearing : In front of a chapel ,after cracking -harmless- blue jokes about Mary and Joseph ,they begin to wonder about the meaning of life , the possibility of a life in the great beyond "where I could meet Youri ";later,in a church, the father bursts into tears ; they stop at a fun fair,to find again the childhood pleasures of long ago
Thus, through the pleasure and the pain , our heroes ride their bike across Austria, the Czech Republic ,Romania (Dracula's castle) before reaching their destination; here the movie seems to verge on supernatural ,but it's not so :whereas the girl from Austria had no memories, two people in Turkey remember their good times with the departed son.
Our heroes (one of them is a chain smoker and that he achieves such a feat is a bit implausible ) , novice clowns, perform in the schools ; these grown-up kids may remind you of Yves Robert ,who ended his Pagnol adaptation "le château de ma mère" by this sentence:"life is made of small pleasures and big grieves ;but don't you tell it to the children"
Too bad they did not include Yves Montand's eponymous song , a memorable song about childhood nostalgia.
Based on a true story;the director actually lost his own son .It gives the movie an emotion Estevez's (although very good too) movie did not posess.
"A Bicyclette" registers the same desire ;a father wants to do what his son ,Youri,did five years ago : a trip to Istambul by bike (except for the mountains :they use coaches and trains)with his best pal ;Youri committed suicide ,his was a professional clown and clowns are not always happy:no explanation is given.
The proloque,which involves famous faces of the French cinema,is wonderful in its simplicity ; a photo album,and the desire to find traces Youri may have left all along the way to turkey;a road movie,a bit uneven ,but endearing : In front of a chapel ,after cracking -harmless- blue jokes about Mary and Joseph ,they begin to wonder about the meaning of life , the possibility of a life in the great beyond "where I could meet Youri ";later,in a church, the father bursts into tears ; they stop at a fun fair,to find again the childhood pleasures of long ago
Thus, through the pleasure and the pain , our heroes ride their bike across Austria, the Czech Republic ,Romania (Dracula's castle) before reaching their destination; here the movie seems to verge on supernatural ,but it's not so :whereas the girl from Austria had no memories, two people in Turkey remember their good times with the departed son.
Our heroes (one of them is a chain smoker and that he achieves such a feat is a bit implausible ) , novice clowns, perform in the schools ; these grown-up kids may remind you of Yves Robert ,who ended his Pagnol adaptation "le château de ma mère" by this sentence:"life is made of small pleasures and big grieves ;but don't you tell it to the children"
Too bad they did not include Yves Montand's eponymous song , a memorable song about childhood nostalgia.
Based on a true story;the director actually lost his own son .It gives the movie an emotion Estevez's (although very good too) movie did not posess.
The rating is unfairly low and it's sure easy to see why: considering the outline, the audience was expecting the umpteenth version of "the most dangerous game" ; it's actually much closer to psychological drama than to action movie ;it may remind you of the construction of Clouzot 's "le salaire de la peur" in which the first hour was a disproportionate introduction .The comparison is not gratuitous : in the 1953 classic, four broke adventurers accepted an extremely dangerous mission ; in "les tourmentés", a former legionnaire now a homeless wreck ,accepts to be the prey of some of kind of huntress Diana,for a hefty sum, in a hunt which would take place in the Rumanian carpathians .
The novel was based on different POV ,and Lucas Belvaux had to invent a fragmented narration ,playing cat and mouse,not with the characters ,but with the viewer : the human torches , the camouflage,are not in the indicative present ,which probably infuriated the action movie buff .
The legionnaire honor has not that much changed since the thirties when it was a frequent subject (Feyder's "le grand jeu" ; Duvivier's " la bandera"); it's a former sergeant who provides his employer with her prey ,out of manly camaraderie "there's no more sarge ,just call me Max".
Back in civilian life,does Max really want to help his former brother in arm ? The interprets are all excellent and Ramzy Bedia ,as the tout, displays all the subtleties of a tormented soul ;he feels for his friend , perhaps ashamed of himself , makes friends with his former mate's family;we do not deal here with cardboard characters with the hero and the villains ,the movie avoids any over-simplification.
The former legionnaire ,outlaw from society , has kept his sense of honor: if he's killed during the hunt , his wife and kids will receive his wages (of fear); till the very end,he's ready to sacrifice his life because he despises himself and thus he can redeem his tormented soul. Niels Schneider,with his hangdog looks,wins over his audience.
And then ,there is this icily ruthless huntress :Linh-Dan-Pham achieves the feat of being threatening whilst remaining cool,restrained ,almost wise; she represents the bourgeoisie,the wealthy ones who can exploit their fellow man, nay make them the victim of their deadly games; it could be a methaphor of a society hard on the underdogs ,but,here again,do not go by appearances : her past is revealed ,little by little , though much of her life remains in the shadow ,she's a victim too .
In direct contrast with her, her prey's wife (Deborah François) :she's a nurse and one perceives her firm independence of men ( not the damsel of the thirties in awe of those legionnaires );Before the hunt, the unfortunate hero wants to make the best of the months before :he buys mountains of thing to his children but his wife warns him"" they're not used to luxury,I want them to be aware of the price of the things I buy"; the evolution of the character is the weakest link of the screenplay: she's a clever woman, so how can she be so naive to believe her failed husband can be in charge of such responsibilities in his so-called job?
But the main subject remains: can the value of a human being be counted in euros or dollars?
Definitely off the beaten track ,"les tourmentés" is certainly one of the strongest French works of 2025.
The novel was based on different POV ,and Lucas Belvaux had to invent a fragmented narration ,playing cat and mouse,not with the characters ,but with the viewer : the human torches , the camouflage,are not in the indicative present ,which probably infuriated the action movie buff .
The legionnaire honor has not that much changed since the thirties when it was a frequent subject (Feyder's "le grand jeu" ; Duvivier's " la bandera"); it's a former sergeant who provides his employer with her prey ,out of manly camaraderie "there's no more sarge ,just call me Max".
Back in civilian life,does Max really want to help his former brother in arm ? The interprets are all excellent and Ramzy Bedia ,as the tout, displays all the subtleties of a tormented soul ;he feels for his friend , perhaps ashamed of himself , makes friends with his former mate's family;we do not deal here with cardboard characters with the hero and the villains ,the movie avoids any over-simplification.
The former legionnaire ,outlaw from society , has kept his sense of honor: if he's killed during the hunt , his wife and kids will receive his wages (of fear); till the very end,he's ready to sacrifice his life because he despises himself and thus he can redeem his tormented soul. Niels Schneider,with his hangdog looks,wins over his audience.
And then ,there is this icily ruthless huntress :Linh-Dan-Pham achieves the feat of being threatening whilst remaining cool,restrained ,almost wise; she represents the bourgeoisie,the wealthy ones who can exploit their fellow man, nay make them the victim of their deadly games; it could be a methaphor of a society hard on the underdogs ,but,here again,do not go by appearances : her past is revealed ,little by little , though much of her life remains in the shadow ,she's a victim too .
In direct contrast with her, her prey's wife (Deborah François) :she's a nurse and one perceives her firm independence of men ( not the damsel of the thirties in awe of those legionnaires );Before the hunt, the unfortunate hero wants to make the best of the months before :he buys mountains of thing to his children but his wife warns him"" they're not used to luxury,I want them to be aware of the price of the things I buy"; the evolution of the character is the weakest link of the screenplay: she's a clever woman, so how can she be so naive to believe her failed husband can be in charge of such responsibilities in his so-called job?
But the main subject remains: can the value of a human being be counted in euros or dollars?
Definitely off the beaten track ,"les tourmentés" is certainly one of the strongest French works of 2025.
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