Peter Hack This film succeeds on so many levels. Great cast, background, story, it doesn't blast you out with junk noise when they think you might not be following the story. And of course, excellent subtitles. The cast excel at a variety of faces and the editing and photography never fail. Would recommend this to anyone. Lots of little bits of business to giggle over and loads of snide comments about the armaments industry which should hit where it needs to. I'll be happy to add this to my titles on my DVD shelf. When I first caught this film it had already begun and I didn't know what I was getting into but it soon enabled me to catch on. Quite a bit of the action comes along without dialogue and there's no need for it. One to enjoy.

strat_axe Micmacs is not a bad movie overall and one with an interesting and whimsical storyline. One thing however that I did not like about the movie was the obvious plot holes that it contained. There were certain places where the storyline simply jumped ahead with no explanation, leaving the reader to catch up on their own. The most notable example of this is near the beginning where we see Bazil as a little kid when his family receives news of his father's death. We then see him sent to a boarding school of some sort and the story suddenly changes to a man sitting in a video store watching a movie. It is only because of certain clues seen later that we suddenly realize that this is Bazil. Some films do this purposefully for effect, however this one only serves to confuse the audience rather than impress them.The director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, was born in Roanne, Loire, France on September 3, 1953. Jeunet has directed a number of films, one of which, "Amelie", was nominated for several Academy Awards. He also received a European Film Award for Best Director due to this film.A major idea that is expressed in the film is that of a person finding a second life or a new reason for living. We see Bazil's life rejuvenated by his newfound group of friends and his newfound purpose of getting revenge on the arms manufacturers. This idea really hits home when we see that all of his friends are happily willing to assist him in his mission. When they tell him that anything he has to do, they will do together, we see that he has gained a new life that far surpasses the solitary and dreary one he led before. This idea is significant because it shows that people should always have a reason for living. If one life purpose fades away, another one will eventually arise to take its place.Another main idea is the story of an underdog triumphing over a superior force. The dominant storyline of Bazil's quest for revenge on the arms dealers reflects this idea at every turn as he and his team lure the companies closer and closer to destruction. They gain more of an advantage with each step of the plan until it all culminates in the end with the coerced confessions of the president of each company. Once these confessions are broadcast on YouTube, Bazil and his friends have obviously won. This idea is popular with audiences because people like it when they see those who are repressed overthrow their oppressors against all odds. It is appealing because not only does the good guy win, but that victory is all the more sweet because it is theoretically impossible. The movie uses special effects as any good action film should, which serve well to keep the audience's attention. It makes use of pyrotechnics such as the explosions which are set off with the sabotage of one of the arms manufacturing facilities. The music used at different points in the movie also stands out. It has a circus-like feel to it which adds to the comical air of the film, such as the music heard when Petit Pierre is playing with his inventions.Overall, the movie is okay at best, but far from the worst I have ever seen. Many may find it to be too trite and predictable however it does have its moments. I would readily suggest it to someone looking for a decent French action-comedy.

Eternality The highly-acclaimed director of Amelie (2001) brings fans back to his whimsical world of comedy with Micmacs, a fun, entertaining, and cheeky outing that does not have a single dull moment. Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the French director of some of European cinema's most stylishly creative films, takes rein over a film which has a story that goes like this: A guy named Bazil (Dany Boon) unluckily gets shot in the head but recovers to be adopted by an oddball family of "circus freaks". Together, they seek to help Bazil to find, capture, and embarrass the people who were responsible for manufacturing that bullet that is still stuck in his brain.Micmacs is a light-hearted take on crime – the crime of producing and selling weapons to maim or kill humans in wars. So with Bazil spearheading his team, they seek to destroy the egotistical heads of two companies that run such an evil, money-churning business. And they do so in the most bizarre fashion anyone could think of – by playing to the physical, intellectual, and courageous strengths of each person. There is a contortionist, a human cannonball, a human calculator, a black who speaks via the art of abstraction, an old man who improvises and creates things out of scrap metal, and a couple of others.Though the entire film could have been dreamt of by a director like Terry Gilliam (Brazil, 1985; The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, 2009), Jeunet makes Micmacs his own with his incredible color schemes. His trademark use of soft orange and yellow give the film a sort of lively glow that makes it look eye-pleasing. Together with the fluidity of the camera-work, it is difficult not to become engrossed in the film's setting and characters. Apart from a couple of sex scenes integral to the plot, Micmacs could have been a children's movie, though that would be an insult to what Jeunet has accomplished here, despite how silly the film seems to be.Micmacs is playfully-directed, and the manner in which Jeunet tricks us with some oh-I-didn't-see-that-coming moments would most likely please us and tickle our funny bones. Most of the comedy come from physical situations that the characters find themselves in. Special credit should be given to Boon whose expressive bodily and facial movements channel the spirit of Charles Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Micmacs is visually stunning, with Jeunet flexing his creative muscles by superimposing moving images of what Bazil is thinking about on his forehead as he copes with anxiety issues. There is no doubt that with this quirky effort, Jeunet has once again proved that he is one of the few masters of inventive cinema.GRADE: A- (8.5/10 or 4 stars)www.filmnomenon.blogspot.comAll rights reserved.

ajs-10 This is a quirky French comedy (with subtitles) that, when it came out, attracted a few good reviews. On the strength of these I decided to watch it when it came up on TV recently. I have to say I wasn't totally blown away by it, but there are some nice touches and there are parts I actually found genuinely funny! But more of my thoughts later, here's a brief summary first (summary haters and those that don't wish to know anything about the plot please help the gang sort that junk while I write the next paragraph).When Bazil was young, his father was killed whilst clearing mines in North Africa. Amongst his effects returned to the family was a photo of the mine that killed him, and Bazil never forgot the logo embossed into the mine casing. Now grown up, he has a job at a video store. One evening a shoot-out occurs in the street outside and Bazil is accidentally hit in the head by a stray bullet. The surgeon decides it's too risky to remove the bullet and so Bazil leaves hospital only to find he is evicted from his apartment and his job has been given to someone else. He is given one of the bullet casings from the shootout, it has a different logo to the mine that killed his father but, again, Bazil commits it to memory. He now lives on the streets of Paris making a living busking. He is eventually taken in by a group of misfits who live in a junk yard. They make a living by recycling and selling things other people have thrown out. Lead by Tambouille, they include a contortionist, La Môme Caoutchouc, who Bazil has a bit of a thing for. Going about his job of collecting useful things to mend, Bazil comes across two buildings opposite each other. They bear the logos of the two companies that made the weapons that ruined his life. He decides to get revenge on the leaders of these two companies, Nicolas Thibault de Fenouillet and François Marconi. He ropes in his new found friends and this is where all the fun begins… I'll leave it there so as not to enrage the Spoiler Police any more than necessary.This is a very well made film with some really clever and inventive set pieces. It is visually very quirky, but in a nice way, and has a pretty decent soundtrack. Decent performances all round, particularly from; Dany Boon as Bazil, André Dussollier as Nicolas Thibault de Fenouillet, Nicolas Marié as François Marconi, Jean-Pierre Marielle as Placard, Yolande Moreau as Tambouille and Julie Ferrier as La Môme Caoutchouc.At the beginning I loved the quirky comedy, almost reminiscent of the great Jacques Tati (but not quite). Unfortunately it couldn't sustain its early promise and ended up falling pretty flat in the middle third. It seemed to pick up a bit towards the end, but by then, I'm afraid, it had lost a lot of its magic (for me). I somehow expected better from the director of the likes of Delicatessen (1991) and Amelie (2001), but sadly it didn't match up to its early promise. It's still quite an enjoyable film with some moments I found really funny and so I'll recommend it for one viewing, at least.My score: 6.2/10