Les folles aventures de Picasso

I saw this film while in Hungary (even funnier with Hungarian subtitles - cause it looks so incomprehensible!).

Sadly, when I rented it here in the USA, I discovered that a large chunk of the film dealing with Picasso in New York during the prohibition of modern art, and his subsequent trial and escape had been ruthlessly cut by the US censors. Criminal. Can't we Americans relax and learn to laugh at ourselves, too??

Nonetheless, this is a hilarious film and, as Monty Python so often does, draws on our knowledge of history to make it's fractured-fairytale point. Strongly recommended for those who love wacky (though sometimes slightly sophomoric) humor with a light intellectual touch.

This movie contains so many weird and funny things that I think you could watch it 100 times and still discover new things in every scene! Every little detail is just so perfect and thought through. Things that you discover first after a while, i.e. that Picassos father is saying halvliter ("half liter") instead of "Heil Hitler". All the acting throughout the movie is spectacular. It has to be since all of the language in the movie (except for the narrator) is just rubbish really. Everything they "say" is enforced by acting and it's impressing how one can understand an entire movie without any real language. This is simply a thoughtful, beautiful, weird, spectacular, funny, great, epic movie. Watch it!

This film is one of my favorites. I saw it in Europe for the first time and at least 5 five times since then and I still laughing loudly. It's very intelligent humor, full of love about a great man.

The only thing what shocked me is that the American version is missing many great parts. For instance the 'prohibition era' spoof is entirely cut out along with the Albert Schweitzer sketch.

Rent it out today and have a great time!

This has got to be one of the most international movies ever made - there is no dialog! Any country can dub the narrative on top with no difficulty. And all that is muttered in this fantastic movie is already translated into whatever tongue be local to the moviegoers - it has dialog like 'Pablo! Pablo!' and 'Mamma! Mamma!' and 'Hauptbanhof! Nichts! Raus!' and stuff like that. It's a riot. Does it make any sense? Does it have a message? Who cares! This is Hasse & Tage at their best - and Hasse & Tage are already the best.

I also picked up this film on VHS at an independent video store, and I was very taken with it. First, the film is a masterpiece of physical acting. Even thought they were speaking a number of different European languages, without subtitles, I had no problem understanding what was going on. It also makes wonderful use of surrealist imagery. I don't know a lot about Picasso, but I imagine someone who did would find this a fresh and entertaining take on the life of the man. Like a piece of Picasso's art, this movie is beyond language, I was left feeling like I knew how the man thought. If you enjoy physical comedy, this may be the most highbrow movie of that kind you'll ever see.