One of the big hits of the holiday season here in Paris is a movie called Largo Winch, based on a popular comic strip (or bande dessinée). For those of you who aren't familiar with Largo, he's a young adventurer who inherits a colossal fortune when his business tycoon father dies. Trouble is, Largo's adopted (his name is Croatian), so he has to battle assorted crooks and scoundrels to take his rightful place at the head of the Winch Corporation.
So much for the plot. The film, directed by Jérôme Salle, is an old-fashioned delight: a mixture of Dumas intrigue (there are several references to The Count of Monte Cristo), 1970s telly (think The Persuaders) and a 1980s Luc Besson romp. The locations in Hong Kong, Croatia and Sicily are suitably sumptuous and there are are plenty of beautiful women, notably a Bardo-esque Melanie Thierry. All in all, it's far better than the brutal and leaden Quantum of Solace.
The French don't make action movies very often; but when they do, the result can be a cut above standard Hollywood potboilers. A couple of years ago, Jérôme Salle made the equally enjoyable Anthony Zimmer, which combined the Côte d'Azur and a divinely dangerous Sophie Marceau to deliver a stylish homage to Hitch. It had a light, self-deprecating touch that I can only describe as chic.
But Luc Besson was my way in to French action. Back in the 1980s and early 1990s, Besson had me hooked with a string of films that fueled my attraction to France. First there was Subway (1985), with a shock-haired Christophe Lambert (below) discovering a hidden world as he plunges into the entrails of the metro system to escape mysterious pursuers. Why they are pursuing him is never fully explained, but they have something to do with Isabelle Adjani, whose safe he cracked earlier in the story.
Later came Nikita (1990), about a junkie who kills a cop and is forced to choose between life imprisonment or a training program that will turn her into a top government assassin. Guess what she decides? The plot is clearly ridiculous, but solid acting from Anne Parillaud and the wonderful Tchéky Karyo (as Nikita's boss, Uncle Bob) give the movie a psychological depth that make the characters almost believable.
Completing this little trilogy is Léon (1994), with Jean Reno reprising his role as a renegade hit man ("The Cleaner") from the earlier movie, while trying not to stare at Natalie Portman in mini Lolita mode. Only the French could get away with a scenario as iffy as this. The film is the least subtle of the three and paves the way for the hubris of The Fifth Element.
Rewinding a bit, another gem of French cinema is Diva (1981), directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix. This one involves a statuesque opera singer, the young motorcycle courier who is obsessed with her, and lots of chasing around after a pirate recording of one of her performances. The courier is aided by a bizarre freelance operator named Serge (Richard Bohringer), who mutters sagely about the zen of cooking and lives in a loft with a nubile Asian teen. Plus there's an exciting chase on moped and foot through the metro. You may have noticed a pattern emerging here.
For me, Largo Winch clearly has a place - if only a minor one - in the school of Action Française. And Jérôme Salle is a worthy successor to Luc Besson as that school's principal.
I love Nikita :D :D :D
Posted by: LaPetite | December 26, 2008 at 03:03 AM