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Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Screenwriters: Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Guillaume Laurant
Starring: Dany Boon, Dominique Pinon, Andre Dussollier, Nicolas Marie, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Julie Ferrier, Yolande Moreau
Synopsis
After surviving a bullet in the head, Bazil (Boon) an ex-videostore clerk joins a group of misfits to come up with an intricate and original plan to destroy two big weapons manufacturers.
Review
After working many years on adapting Yann Martel’s fantasy adventure Life of Pi (which is still in development hell), Amelie director Jean-Pierre Jeunet returns to his home country as he has come up with a French comedy that clearly blends with the espionage of Mission Impossible.
One can say that Jeunet’s new flick has the oddness from his previous work, specifically Delicatessen but another can say Micmacs lacks the charm and magic of Amelie, a masterpiece so wonderful that it shows how brilliant French cinema can be and one that can’t be ignored.
In terms of what the drama provides, these isn’t much to say about Bazil, the protagonist with a bullet stuck in his brain, apart from the fact that his family were split apart because a mime from one weapons manufacturer and the bullet that almost killed him was from another manufacturer.
The film is also a satire towards the world arms trade as the heads of the manufacturers are classy villains in nice suits and are clearly portrayed as the evil that flows through the earth, and yet this subject is not as detailed as it should have been. So that’s the premise and once he is introduced to the Micmacs one by one, the film quickly moves on to the espionage.
While the script is not as imaginative as it wants to be (best described as loopy), Jeunet as a director is great at making France a fairytale environment with strong visuals. Also, he seems to return the physical mechanics of the films he co-directed with Marc Caro as the Micmacs basically make gadgets through salvaged gear. Finally, he knows how comedy works through moments of slapstick and oddball characterisation.
Despite being a popular name to French audiences as both comedian and actor on stage and screen, Dany Boon is not a name we are familiar with here but after seeing this performance, I want to see more of him as he is so funny for strong moments of slapstick as he occasionally hallucinates so slaps his forehead. Out of all the Micmacs, the one who stands out is Dominique Pinon who has frequently starred in Jeunet’s films and in this he is still displaying a sign of wildness as he is playing a human cannonball.
Verdict
Not the most ambitious film by Jeunet the auteur, but there is enough to laugh at and be amazed by the technological aspects that Micmacs brings.
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