Marche à l'ombre

A film about friendship, making a living only with a good heart, and social contrasts. The oldish, 80sh look, and the ending make this small film a great line in the tradition of "2 uneven social outcasts who have nothing but are reasonably happy". I can think now of "Les Apprentis" with Guillaume Depardieu.

The fact that Michel Blanc is also the director shows what a brain is hidden behind his shabby "pauvre type" looks. Remarkable! OK, we've seen it before: François is young, handsome, and gifted at something (music). Denis... is a balding, skinny, hypochondriac good for nothing, an "enmerdeur" (some slurs can only be said it French :)). And yet, through the magic of cinema, we find out that they sort of "need each other". Or at least, that's what they decide after having decided to leave about 20 times only during this short film :)!

Our handsome hero not only takes care of his looser friend, he also lies to this dashing girl not to tie her to a sub looser like him. What's more, he didn't even lie to her about his "CV" like he did to his former girl etc. The fact that they ran across while... giving a scrappy performance under the rain only shows that... love can be found at the weirdest corner :)!

Let us not forget Gérard Lanvin. He plays just the opposite side of the social strata at Camping (2006) *he's "Michel Saint-Josse" a successful physician, well, aesthetic surgeon, full of money, connections, but pretty unbearable. I guess that's good acting!

Both actor being so young at this film is an added bonus, source of some weirdness too :).

The IMDb user is right that the scenes of the hospital and driving are funny. I'd add the "squatters", the small counterfeiter's's depressed wife, the disagreeable dingy hotel's prejudices "les putes et les pedes"... just hilarious! Only someone who has known a bit the underworld, and then risen, only to fall further (which seemed impossible), and then up again, like a roller coaster, can understand that this move is not necessarily SF, even though it may sound difficult to believe. The ending's music was a bit too much, too tacky American, and definitely worth taking away, or changing, after the initial end credits. Maybe it was a kind of ironic message, but I suspect it was only a concession. Which would be totally all right to our characters, who did just about everything for a buck *totally understandable under the circumstances*!

Overall, a great film. Warm hearted, after all. Recommended!

In the beginning of movie, there was Buster Keaton, (and Chaplin to a lesser extent), then, there were Laurel & Hardy, Jerry Lewis and Woody Allen. Whichever way you look at it, there wasn't too many films who got the crowd laughing out-loud. Michel Blanc did it for me as an actor. This is one of the only two films he made so far. The funniest, if not very original, of them. It has the same texture as Patrice Lecompte's pics Blanc played in.

The second film Blanc made, Grosse fatigue, has a texture not unlike Bertrand Blier films Blanc played in.

Interesting comedy featuring one of France best actor, Michel Blanc. He's also directing this movie. Some scenes are hilarious, like the car ride with the Black guy driving. Good laughs also at the hospital or when Michel Blanc's character is also sick or complaining about something. We don't know how those two guys met years ago, but we don't really care, the fun goes on from here. The ending, though, is a bit too abrupt I think.

Out of 100, I give it 73. That's good for **½ out of ****.

Seen at home, in Toronto, on December 17th, 2002.