IP5: L'île aux pachydermes

This movie has an awful reputation in France because it could be involved in Montand death by stroke. Thus it's really awkward to watch him die in the movie, in a hospital bed by a same stroke. Anyway I picked it for Géraldine who was an excellent choice as she plays again a nurse: as she is always focused and caring, this kind of part suits her nicely. At the end, it's a movie that is one of its kind: you can feel that Beinex has a real talent with the camera and light and can also write a story about generations and also about our country France.

This beautiful and stimulating movie continues Beineix's orientation towars socially marginal male anti-establishmentarian characters on a romantic quest. The visual lyricism and meditative nature of this film are wonderful, although the plot seems less coherent than in Diva. If you liked that latter film, this is definitely worth seeking out and watching for similar elements, a whiff of contemporary France's multiculturalism and inequality and a deeper sense of longing for romantic or spiritual fulfillment. Beineix can be faulted for keeping the female characters in this film on the level of pure archetype, but this male pseudo-Butch-and-Sundance road movie has humor, keen visuals and variety.

I saw this film years ago when it was first released and fell madly in love with it. Now over 10 years later I just have to say what a beautiful film it is... still.

Watch this film, life really is too short not to.

Why this movie doesn't exist on DVD stuns me, my 9 year old VHS copy is slowly dying out. Yves Montand could not have left a better swan song.

Just beautiful.

A boy, a youth and a seemingly crazy old man are on their way to the Pyrrenees. What are they really searching for? Life & Fulfillment, I guess. But Beineix pulls it off without getting pompous. This movie is mixed, both gentle and harsh at the same time. It's a lot more quiet than Beineix's "Betty Blue", without the same desperation - it's more about pent-up feelings and longing.

All the main characters are played well, especially Sall is incredibly good as the kid. That ending in the sunrise at the Pyrrenees is moving. No guarantee that Betty Blue-fans will like this - but it's really worth checking out!

I saw this at the 1991 Seattle film fest and never heard of it being in cinemas in the US. I should think it would do very well even now. Imagine getting the whole graffiti artist, skater crowd to come to see a French film! They would. Even the title would attract a lot of the hip-hop culture, IP5, sounds pretty contemporary to me! Build it and they will indeed come.

Wonderful film: the production design, dialog, the cinematography & casting are all very, very good. Perhaps this film toured the American college film program circuit in 16mm, not sure. This film really needs to be on DVD so that more people can see it. I imagine the politics & money thing are the reasons it didn't make the natural leap from VHS to DVD.