Bon voyage

Genre: suspense

With: Isabelle Adjani (Viviane Denvers), Gérard Depardieu (Jean-Étienne Beaufort), Grégori Derangère (Frédéric Auger), Virginie Ledoyen (Camille), Yvan Attal (Raoul), Jean-Marc Stehlé (Professor Kopolski), Peter Coyote (Alex Winckler)

Director: Jean-Paul Rappeneau

Release: 2003

Studio: ARP Sélection et al.

Rating: PG

MBiS score: 8.1/10

There Are VIPs Everybody Seeks and VIPs Nobody Should Know

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Story-line: Paris, 1940. While Hitler’s army threatens France, Viviane Denvers, a celebrated actress, attends the premiere of her new movie in the company of a cabinet minister and assorted hangers-on. Coming home afterwards, she eludes one more admirer with the help of Frédéric Auger, a childhood friend. And that’s when things get rather complicated for the beautiful star and the gallant Frédéric…

Pluses: a luxurious and well-crafted production, a tight, fast-paced and twist-filled screenplay that features splendid characters and allows them to evolve as circumstances warrant, a balanced mix of drama and humour, top-grade performances by Isabelle Adjani (her Viviane is a complicated woman who puts her charms to good use), Gérard Depardieu (alternately austere and delicate), Grégori Derangère, Virginie Ledoyen and Yvan Attal. 

Minuses: none I can think of.

Comments: the synopsis above may not seem very inviting but it only covers the first ten minutes of the movie. As a whole, BON VOYAGE is an old-fashioned cliffhanger about one very important man who must be shielded from the Nazis. Noble sentiments, political intrigue, love and dastardly dealings … there’s something for everyone in this memorable picture by Jean-Paul Rappeneau.   

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Deer Hunter (The)

Genre: psychological drama

With: Robert De Niro (Michael Vronsky), John Savage (Steven), Christopher Walken (Nick), John Cazale (Stan), Meryl Streep (Linda), George Dzundza (John the bartender), Rutanya Alda (Angela)

Director: Michael Cimino

Screenplay: Deric Washburn (from a story by Michael Cimino, Deric Washburn, Louis Garfinkle and Quinn K. Redeker)

Release: 1978

Studio: EMI Films, Universal Pictures

Rating: 18+

MBiS score: 8.8/10

Can Life Ever Be The Same Once You’ve Tasted War?  

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Story-line: during the late 1960s, three young men from a rugged industrial town in Pennsylvania attain personal milestones: marriage for one and a tour of duty in Vietnam for all three.  

Pluses: fabulous performances by a virile Robert De Niro, a fresh-faced Christopher Walken, the brilliant Meryl Streep and an evenly professional cast (notably the Asian actors), a logical and sensible screenplay providing emotional power, surprising twists and moments of humour, adept directorial work (the wedding and party scenes in particular), gritty photography by Vilmos Zsigmond, a measured musical theme (Stanley Myers).    

Minuses: the combat episodes are very intense (more so than in APOCALYPSE NOW, for instance). The final sequence may seem a bit too patriotic – in view of history’s judgment on the Vietnam war – but it does reflect a viewpoint shared by many at the time.   

Comments: THE DEER HUNTER stands as a sober examination of personal lives altered by global events and a poignant statement about friendship and respect. Michael Cimino’s masterwork is a fine companion piece to ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, that great old classic depicting one soldier’s fate on and off the battlefield.   

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Elizabeth 

Genre: historical drama

With: Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth I), Christopher Eccleston (the Duke of Norfolk), Kathy Burke (Mary I), Richard Attenborough (Sir William Cecil), Joseph Fiennes (Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester), Geoffrey Rush (Sir Francis Walsingham), Fanny Ardant (Marie de Guise), Vincent Cassel (le duc d’Anjou)

Director: Shekhar Kapur

Release: 1998

Studio: PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, Working Title Films, Channel Four Films

Rating: 14

MBiS score: 8.4/10

‟Will You Leave Your Kingdom to a Heretic?”

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Story-line: two decades have passed since Henry VIII’s demise and England is now ruled by his daughter Mary. Having ‟Bloody Mary” on the throne is reassuring for English Catholics and the Holy See… but what would happen if Elizabeth, Mary’s Protestant half-sister, ever became queen?   

Pluses: excellent acting by Cate Blanchett and an all-star cast (Geoffrey Rush!), an electrifying screenplay by Michael Hirst, polished dialogues, fine direction and top-level production values.

Minuses: some have claimed that ELIZABETH takes liberties with historical events (and they may be right) but it’s such a dynamic film that I loved it anyway. Expect violence and persecution as the screenplay depicts a very brutal era in English history (from 1554 onward).

Comments: several years ago, I wrote a very enthusiastic review of LA REINE MARGOT – calling it a James Bond film from the Sixteenth century – and this one, although a bit less remarkable, is in the same vein. Religion, politics, the monarchy and love… ELIZABETH tackles hot button issues and does so in a vigorous, heart-stopping way.

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