The state of foreign cinema in the United States appears so dire, that unless a film imported over the last few years featured a girl with a dragon tattoo, it is unlikely American audiences saw it.
Name directors from foreign lands used to be a draw. But this year saw such legends as Alain Resnais, Jean-Luc Godard and the recently deceased Claude Chabrol getting new works into theaters, only to meet with general apathy among U.S. moviegoers.
One film that did not fare well at all was Micmacs, the latest from French stylist Jean-Pierre Jeunet, whose past hits include Amelie and A Very Long Engagement.
Jeunet has built a solid following over the years with his idiosyncratic sagas. All of them are fantasies of some sort, some of them more romantic than others, others more phantasmagorical and socially conscious than romantic.
Micmacs is more from the latter mold. This typically off-handed Jeunet saga centers on Bazil (Dany Boon), who lost his father in a land mine incident when he was young. Moreover, his own hold on life is precarious due to a bullet lodged in his head, by way of an accidental drive-by shooting when he was working at a video store. Bazil is befriended by Slammer (Jean-Pierre Marielle), a former convict-turned-salvage artist who joins forces with Bazil to create sculptures made from discarded junk. He also becomes part of a ragtag group of outcasts that include a genius at calculation, a human cannonball, a cook and a woman who can bend herself in every way possible. The anti-war and anti-weapon message comes through when Bazil encounters those responsible for the mine that killed his father and the bullet imbedded in his noggin.
Micmacs is certainly goofy and, at times, cartoonish, as the film’s characters inhabit an alternative universe that would make Superman’s Mr. Mxyzptlk comfy. Jeunet is no slouch in vesting this universe with more than a touch of the surreal, coupled with exaggerated character and camera movements, using silent techniques like irises and mime-like actions, and casting actors like Boon and regular Dominique Pinon, who looked like they just walked out of a Max Fleischer animated short. To add to this grand (and often guignol) stew are references to Pixar, Buster Keaton, and old-time mysteries. In fact, some of the characters watch the convoluted Bogey-as-Phillip-Marlowe classic The Big Sleep.
To expect the unexpected would be a good rule to adopt from a film by this French auteur of the absurd. After making award-winning short films with designing partner and former comic book artist Marc Caro, the tandem made their feature debut with 1991’s Delicatessen. In this post-apocalyptic tale, food is scarce throughout the world and used for barter. In an apartment complex, a clown is hired as the new janitor, unaware his predecessor was slaughtered by the owner of the building’s downstairs deli. When the clown grows close to the owner’s daughter, she tries to reveal her father’s plans by calling on a civilized underground sect to help them.
Delicatessen brought immediate international attention to this fresh, new, visionary filmmaking team adept at flashy visuals and dark humor. Critics pointed out similarities to the work of ex-Monty Pythonite Terry Gilliam (who, coincidentally, helped produce Delicatessen), Fellini and Chaplin.
The duo’s next film, The City of Lost Children (1995), lived up to Delicatessen’s bizarre reputation. Here, a brilliant but mad scientist who can’t dream decides to kidnap children and steal their dreams. A circus strongman (Ron Perlman) whose kid has been kidnapped and the leader of an orphan gang team to try and penetrate the scientist’s fortress, which is guarded by a group of henchmen and a talking brain.
If Delicatessen or The City of Lost Children came out in the late 1960s-early 1970s, they would no doubt become staples on the midnight cult movie circuit. As it stood, however, the films became calling cards for Jeunet to get a Hollywood project, prompting partner Caro to part ways.
Jeunet’s assignment was the high-budgeted Alien: Resurrection, the fourth entry in the series, starring Sigourney Weaver and Winona Ryder, plus Jeunet regulars Pinon and Perlman. David Cronenberg and Danny Boyle had previously passed on Joss Whedon’s much-revised script that found Weaver’s Ripley cloned after her death and breeding vicious aliens, and a team of pirates hijacking the ship, but getting more than they bargained for in the process.
Jeunet was beset with problems ranging from budget (the film was scaled back late in the game—hence its many closeup sequences), language problems (Jeunet didn’t speak English) and production problems (especially regarding the underwater scenes). Still, while better received than David Fincher’s third installment Alien 3, it disappointed at the box-office considering its $70 million budget.
Amelie directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Back to France, Jeunet went for 2001’s Amelie, a romantic fantasia with Audrey Tautou (in a part conceived for British actress Emily Watson) as a neglected young French girl with health problems and a vivid imagination. She works at a Parisian café, and when Princess Diana dies, she decides to dedicate her life to helping other people in anonymous fashion. Nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Foreign Film, and winner of a host of international accolades, the irresistible Amelie became a huge hit, put Tautou on the map, and proved that Jeunet could deliver sentiment with his distinctive, attention-grabbing visuals.
His follow-up was another romantic undertaking, this time in a more serious vein. Set during World War I, 2004’s A Very Long Engagement starred Tautou as a survivor of childhood polio raised by her aunt and uncle in a small French town who is about to marry a solider (Gaspard Ulliel) battling on the German frontline. Accused with four comrades of wounding themselves to get out of fighting, Ulliel is cast out into enemy territory. Tautou gets word he has been killed, but since she doesn’t believe her fiancée is gone, she hires a detective to try to uncover the truth. With appearances by Jodie Foster and Marion Cotillard, A Very Long Engagement received some award recognition, but i’s box-office was way off of Amelie’s standard, especially in the States. Still, the film cemented Jeunet’s reputation as a filmmaker willing to take chances and explore new territory.
In many ways, Micmacs is a return to Jeunet’s earlier efforts, what with its frantic nature, oddball production design and eccentric characters. Like his one-of-a-kind movies, Jean-Pierre Jeunet is fantastique!