Féroce

The politics are by nature filthy business. Flip-flopping, dirty deals,naked ambition. It is no news to anybody that there is little room for honesty and dignity in politics. This creative, but a bit muddled french movie, is an interesting attempt to strip down the whole political process to bare bones. The campaign managers, the election slogans, the collaboration with racist political forces in order to gain political favors. Anywhere you scratch the surface you find filth and corruption. There are no innocent new-born babes in the world of politics, just pimps and whores with different costumes.Alas, the director of this flick refuses to give us a glimmer of hope.Well, this might not be his fault, he just tells the story. It is up to us to do something about it.

This movie aims at being a pamphlet against the french far right, as the character of demagogue politician Hugues-Henry Lègle is an obvious caricature of real-life right-wing leader Jean-Marie Le Pen. Alas, the movie is a mish-mash of ludicrous clichés, and reads more like a bad comic book written by some naïve leftist. The "fascists" here look more like the ones leftists see in their nightmares. In the end, the movie does a disservice to the cause it purports to serve, as it makes Le Pen and co look sympathetic by being the targets of such a ridiculous turkey. The only saving grace is the good performance, as Lègle, of Jean-Marc Thibault, an veteran comic actor more often seen in low-brow sitcoms.

A scheme, a topic very used during the late nineties and early twenties: immigration, extreme wing party, racism. It could have been a TV movie, perfect for a friday evening. In 2002, in France, it was more than in the news. It is also one of the last movies of Samy Naceri' career. This very same year, he played in NID DE GUEPES, LA MENTALE and this one. In this movie, he plays an Arab with a French forename, very strange but not so rare. Bernard Lecoq is exquisite as an extreme right wing party goon, he overshines in this role. It is not very convincing but entertaining, pleasant, agreeable, especially from a director not at all used to this kind of films. Best Samy Naceri's performance ever. And let's not forget Jean Marc Thibault, used to comedy roles, and who shows here an evil character, a facist party leader, with a terrifyng and terrific face, in a scene with Naceri, when they speak together around a kitchen table. An outstanding performance for Thibault, the highlight of this very good thriller.

Courageous is this movie, by drawing a good/bad easy straight line. If at first, the storyline seems easy, the scenario gets into various twists and turn, dealing all the way with the moral issues without ever being moralistic. The ending is not a let down : while not resorting to turning into the enemy, sami Naceri's character finds a way to bring it down. By refusing to give its hero a "licence to kill" in the name of "Good" and using a subtler approach, Gilles de Maistre's movie gives us a mirror in which we can see the small part of The Beast that lies in each one of us. The final sentence - "Fascism is the socialism of hate" - draws the line : if nobody voted for thos bastards, they plainly would not exist. An unsettling constatation that will echoe in any thinking man's head. Not a perfect movie by a long stretch, but one that is not afraid to hit where it hurts, no matter where you live, and different from the usual brainwashed stuff we are used to. Courageous, as I first said.

This is an excellent sleeper film of which I had the fortune to discover in our library. It is quite sad that American Film is as limited as it is, especially in the small attention to anything other than the star and director: for in feroce, one cannot but help notice the degrees of quality afforded by a casting that nails its target. It does so to a measure that not only adds, but actually makes the movie work! I anticipate marvelous gems to exit the mind of young Monsieur Fraioli, and encourage American Casting Directors - many with 20+ years of experience - to pay attention to this mind. He may be the next Mamet, Bénichou, or Mary Jo Slater!