Simple mortel

This is the second Pierre Jolivet movie I see ;the first one I saw a couple of years ago("force majeure") was marred by a happy end which made the story null and void(not to mention a very poor actor:Patrick Bruel).

"Simple mortel" is a different matter,simply because it goes to the very end.And it allows some uncertainty to remain after the viewing. -Is-it a sci-fi film in which ETs try to get in touch with the hero,the "chosen one"? -Is-it the story of a man going nuts?

This is a really offbeat story,without one single special effect -which is quite a feat-,with a slow beginning:the first fifteen minutes are a bit boring.But the movie hits its stride after and remains absorbing till the end:series of bizarre warnings ,of events that should not happen but did happen.Jolivet's main quality is to put his disturbing facts into daily life.

Does the hero actually hear those voices who ask him to save the planet ?After all,in the late Middle Ages ,it happened once to a young peasant girl from Lorraine.She said she heard three saints' voices ,asking her to come to her king's rescue.Nowadays the extra-terrestrials have replaced those holy men and women .It does not make a big difference.

I won't tell you the story. Everything lies in the ambiance Pierre Jolivet manages to create. It starts as an ordinary day of life and little by little, the main character life moves towards the fantastic. He's alone to face strange things happening and cannot share this with anybody else which makes the story more dramatic.

It's one of my favorite SF movie (and I love SF) even without special effects. The fact you have no SFX does not prevent the film from being SF even it is more fantastic than hard-core SF. Don't expect to see plenty of aliens. The idea and the script is brilliant and very well shot. I would not be surprised to see a remake by Hollywood one of these days.

Let's keep it simple : this movie has no special effects at all; few characters and just sheer intelligence to its credits. The story could be out of a "Twilight Zone" episodes : a translator receives coded messages in ancient languages, giving him orders he must obey to in order to save the whole planet. The suspense really grows up as this "simple mortal" has to fulfil increasingly difficult missions as a pawn in a galactic game.

Pierre Jolivet is maybe one of the best and most underrated filmmakers of its time, along with Spain's Julio Medem, and this straightforward, honest, thrilling movie is definitely a must-see for everyone who likes storytelling and characterisations better than expensive cheap (!) effects. Of course, being French, this movie was ignored by the mainstream critics and vilified by the specialised ones. One day, maybe, it will be given a second chance