Micmacs is the much-anticipated new film from Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the director of Amelie, A Very Long Engagement and Delicatessen. All of Jeunet’s films are developed around the Tom Thumb theme of an orphan fighting a monster…
Micmacs
A film by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (with English subtitles)
Starring Dany Boon, Omar Sy, Andre Dussollier, Dominique Pinon, Julie Ferrier, Nicholas Marie and Marie-Julie Baup.
Micmacs begins with a rollercoaster ride where Bazil, the key character, is orphaned by a mine and then permanently maimed by a stray bullet.
Depressing you might think but not with the comedic, light-hearted approach of director Jean-Pierre Jeunet. As a result of the bullet incident, Bazil finds himself jobless and living on the street where he is taken in by a group of secondhand dealers – outcasts from society, who have found family in each other. They all have a unique, if not unusual gift or strength that is captured by their name – Remington, Calculator, Buster, Slammer, Elastic Girl, Tiny Pete and Mama Chow.
In his journeys around the streets, Bazil stumbles across the weapons manufacturers who have been the authors of his misfortune. So using their wits and peculiar talents, Bazil and his adopted family start to outwork their revenge on the weapon manufacturers in a true David versus Goliath story, where good old-fashioned ingenuity outwits technology and brute strength.
All of Jeunet’s films are developed around the Tom Thumb theme of an orphan fighting a monster. In this film it’s Bazil against the weapon manufacturers. Jeunet’s inspiration for them came from his experience where “we often went to a restaurant where the Dassault engineers went to lunch, too. They were very straight-laced men, in suit and tie, with nice looking faces, but I couldn’t help thinking they were creating and manufacturing incredible weapons to destroy and kill other human beings on the planet! It didn’t seem to bother them very much! I was upset and shocked by that.”
Even though it is set in modern day Paris, the film has an old world quality, with a feeling of the fifties; of a world left behind. While the comedic, light-hearted tone is enjoyable, I found that it trivialised the serious matters that it deals with and that any emotional punch was sacrificed for a laugh. Jeunet’s portrayal of characters borders on stereotypical which is funny but limits your ability to engage with them.
Still the movie is highly entertaining, engaging, quirky and delightful, with many twists and turns, that keep you on the edge of your seat.
By Stacy McIvor, 11 May 2010.
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