French director Jean Pierre Jeunet is one of the most prominent filmmakers in French cinema in the modern era, and is also reguarded as one of the most talented and unique voices in cinema today. His first two features firmly established his unqiue take on cinema, with 1991s deliciously surreal post-apocalyptic film Delicatessan (co-directed with the wonderful Marc Caro) and the 1995 steampunk infused adventure The City Of Lost Children (also with Caro). He valiantly jumped into the Hollywood system and directed the fourth installment of the prestigious Alien series with 1997s Alien Resurrection, which wasn’t considered a superior sequel, but rather an interesting take on the world, infusing it with his signature style. He returned to French cinema with a bang, with what many consider his masterpiece, an offbeat romantic comedy about a young girl with a very different way of looking at life, in 2001’s Amelie, an endlessly watchable sweet tale, introducing wider audiences to the amazing Audrey Tautou. In 2004 he extended this relationship with Tautou with the epic war romance drama A Very Long Engagement, yet another fantastic addition to his almost flawless career.
After six long years, many of which drowned in the failed adaptation of The Life of Pi, Jeunet returns with the release of his latest cinematic venture, the surreal satire comedy that is Micmacs (or Micmacs à Tire-Larigot).
The film tells the tale of Bazil (Dany Boon), a man whose father was killed by explosives in the middle east, his mother dying of grief and when he becomes an adult, becomes victim to a freak accident as a stray bullet hits him in the head, causing him to loose his job and is made to live on the streets. It is here however he is adopted by a group of eccentric street folk, all with their own unique talent, who help him to get revenge against the arms manufacturers responsible for his misfortunes.
With Micmacs, Jeunet returns very much to the feel of his first film Delicatessan, a dark set of circumstances mixed with cheerful light comedy, with a dash of Amelie making for a great mix and a film that is very much what audiences expect of Jeunet and thensome.
The story and script is very strong, that only Jeunet could bring to the screen in such a manner. In less hands, it could be seen as very silly and a horrible satire. However with Jeunet at the helm, he gives the story great humour and vigor, whilst making a very intellegent satire at the same time, one that is the pure definition of enjoyment.
The cast, as usual in a Jeunet film, is fantastic. He casts according to the role and not the star power. Dany Boon is wonderfully playful as the misfortune prone Bazil, who is ever likable from the very first scene he appears on screen, with great comedic timing and eccentricities, such as his miming of the busker. You never truly feel completely sorry for his character, because we know that he has his own ways to get out of trouble and in the end get everything he desires.
The rest of the eccentric troupe is very well cast. From Julie Ferrier’s amazing contortionist “La Mome Caoutchouc”, who is not only a magnetic prescence due her elasticity, but is also a deep, vulnerable and utter sweet romantic interest, to Jeunet’s signature actor Domonique Pinon, who has been in every Jeunet film since Delicatessan, here playing the excellently arrogant cannonball of a person Fracasse, a completely compelling addition as usual, it would not be a a Jeunet film without Pinon. But yes, i won’t go into the details with every single one of them, because i will just be saying the same thing. They all work, they are all unique, and insanely likeable. The two arms dealer owners (played by Andre Dussollier and Nicolas Marie) are work especially well, especially when their suffer grows to painful preportions. Marie’s screaming is hilarious.
The cinematography, editing and production design, as per usual for Jeunet, is top notch, every single shot is fruitful and a feast for the eyes, and the edit rhythmically fluid. Also from the big sets to the smallest trinket, it is created with such visual vigour. It is like a beautiful work of art where there is joy merely from looking at it. The music is typically French, but that is expected, it gives the film a great authenticity, one which is very much of the French and not of your more Hollywood fare.
The champion once again Jean Pierre Jeunet, yet again he proves he is one of the greatest working directors of our time, working by his own terms under his own creative ideal. Micmacs is the ultimate Jeunet experience, one which reminds you what it was that made you fall in love with his other films. It is his glorious world, one where there are film posters of Micmacs within its own film, one which visits previous films in his cannon (namely the cameo of the couple from Delicatessan, still playing their wonderfully eccentric music together).
If you haven’t seen any of his previous films, Micmacs is a great introduction. It is just such a lovely experience to witness at a cinema, a great escape, one which is very smart, well-written, acted, shot, funny and touching, that one cannot help but smile the whole way through, and for a long, long time after the credits roll.
5/5
