gulyet

Watching Go with le Flo is not like watching any other movie, it's a reel experience…an experience that is even better when shared with friends. Before my friends invited me at the Berlin Premiere of Go with le Flo, I had absolutely no clue what it was about and who were those Bright Blue Gorillas. I didn't think too much about it and said yes to an evening with friends. But when I checked the trailer, I started to feel a little skeptical. I was like « oh no, not just another indie movie full of clichés about Europeans and especially about French people »…Maybe I should say here that I'm French…hence the almost invisible touch of chauvinism in my first reactions to the trailer. But one should never say no to a new cinematic experience, so I went.

And what an experience that was. There's nothing really new in the movie itself. The story of the two best friends who love each other without knowing it has been written a million times. The misunderstandings that occur in a couple from two different nationalities and the search for the one true love have also been shown many times. So Go with le Flo doesn't revolutionize the cinema itself, but it definitely revolutionizes your experience as a spectator. And it starts even before the film begins, when the Bright Blue Gorillas, aka Michael Glover and Robyn Rosenkrantz, appear on stage. When they tell their story, you can't help but think « whoa, so those people really exist, they really sold everything they had to come to Europe and start making music and movies ». In a frantic world, where it is expected from everyone to find his way fast and to stay on it, their sweet madness is refreshing and inspiring. Then, when they start to sing, they instantly put you in another mood. Their songs are catchy, funny, witty and you can't help your feet to follow the rhythm and your hands to clap. After this intro, you know that you are already being part of something original, something different.

Then the film starts and when Denis Aubert (the actor who plays Florian, the lead role) appears and starts to speak, you know you're gonna love that movie. The actor is simply perfect. His face captures all the emotions and he makes you alternately want to laugh and cry, according to whether is being rejected or loved. But he's not the only one. All the actors are perfect in their own role, especially the two friends of the main characters played by Roberta Bianchini and Luisa Wietzorek. It never feels exaggerate, on the contrary, it feels like every actor, every musician, every talent is highlighted. The whole movie reminds us of the old comedies using very basic but efficient situation comedy. And as a French spectator, I've got to say that the scene where Florian, as a young boy, watches a perfectly parodic « nouvelle vague » French movie is one of my favorite. It goes without saying that not everything is meant literally. There are lots of parodic and ironic moments but that's what makes the movie even funnier. Of course you can see that the budget for the movie was really tight, but they've still managed to make wonders, working all together. And at the end, it doesn't feel like your watching a movie, but it feels like you're watching a family film, like you're watching people you seriously care about. You're simply living it.

The Bright Blue Gorillas come from Los Angeles, they don't seem to speak German or French, and yet they have managed to capture something of Europe symbolized by French-German relationships and most importantly, they have managed to create a real sense of community. And at the end, when you watch the credits, you also feel like you belong to this group, to this community. You are not a passive spectator watching a regular feature film, you're being part of something more original. Watching Go with le Flo is an experience that gently brings you to admit the fact that art and cinema appear in many different forms, the same way there are human beings of all shapes and sizes.