Myriam Nys
An author writes cheap novels about the adventures of one Bob Saint-Clar, an impossibly handsome, suave and cosmopolitan secret agent. The life of the author is no great fun. He has difficulty in making ends meet and is treated as a slave by his editor, who pretty much answers the question of what would happen if a tapeworm could walk on two legs and speak. When the author meets a beauteous female student - all this and brains too ! - things begin to look better ; but then, the course of true love rarely runs smooth... The life of the author and the exotic adventures of Saint-Clar begin to blend and bleed, like the colors in a cheap fabric - and the results aren't pretty.This is the concept behind "Le Magnifique" ("The Splendid One"), a French comedy about the relationship between an author and his creation and about the dangers and joys of vicarious living. It is also a deliriously surreal take on secret agent movies of the Bond, James Bond kind. (All women adore him ! All men envy him ! He speaks seventeen languages, plays the piano like a god and knows his wines ! He climbs mountains and fights tigers ! He looks sharp in a tuxedo even when burning to a crisp in a volcano !) Belmondo shows himself a most generous artist by throwing himself wholeheartedly into a parody of his usual roles. (As an actor, Belmondo was France's Adventurer-General.) Bisset too delivers a fine performance, both as a determined yet vulnerable student and as Saint-Clars love interest Tatiana. The scenes and dialogues between Saint-Clar and his Tatiana are so delightfully godawful that they belong in a museum.This fine comedy has achieved cult status in France - and rightly so.
Benedito Dias Rodrigues
When l'd watched this picture in 1988 l'd found it a crap...now in first time on DVD with original audio (Ugh!!) looks to me more acceptable and digestible...the plot is very clever but the acting is bizarre...nonsense and surreal....Jacqueline Bisset delivery your attractiveness to saves the movie....Jean Paul Belmondo is fine when he playing the writer only....the Mexican landscape helps to much....this odd french comedy is dated and isn't for all taste...but works for a killing time only and of course to see how beauty Jacqueline Bisset was in the seventies!!! Resume:First watch: 1988 / How Many: 2 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 6.25
Rob Williams
There are some cornball aspects to this film, but it also incredibly inspired in many ways. It is best not to read a bunch of summaries of the plot, just watch it and revel in the imagery which is fantastic in many parts. Belmondo is fantastic as is Jacqueline Bisset. If you already found sixties spy/agent films campy, this film will be a wonderful release, but also a haunting pastiche of dark humor on the whole genre. The jokes are layered very thick, not all of them hit, but compared to the campy schtick done in hollywood, this is shakespearean.
Dick van der Vennen
This movie is a story about a writer which is maintaining and developing a character, which is a lot in contrary of himself. As a viewer you follow the man when he is writing the book, and you can follow all of his sometimes funny, sometimes exaggerated fantasies by the creation of the story.It must have been a challenge for the script writer(s) to make this film not too difficult to follow, because it depends on good timing when switching the roles as they are growing during the story.When you place the movie in its own time, it was one of those real Belmondo's: cleverly written, and full of terrific action, with often surprising acts. A nice movie!
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