Micmacs à tire-larigot

French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet marks his return to the film world this weekend with Micmacs. For those of you unfamiliar with Jeunet's previous works, he is probably most known for his sugary goodness of a film that is Amélie. With Micmacs, Jeunet proves that he has not lost his touch.

We begin the film with a group of men in the desert. Each man is dressed in his best bomb-squad attire and is combing a strip of sand for landmines to diffuse. We focus on one man as he carefully locates and unearths a single mine. Just as he begins to diffuse it we are treated to a long shot of all of the men working as our friend blows up. The film zips away from this scene to the wife and son of the departed as they are informed of his death. Through several jump cuts, we are able to see that this event will affect the young boy's entire life. We then fast-forward to a small video rental store in modern day France. Bazil (Dany Boon), the young boy we previously met, is now fully grown and works at the video store. Bazil is presented as a simple and somewhat happy man with a love of film. He amorously recites the lines of the film he watches matching the cadence perfectly. At the same time, a high-speed car chase spills over into his world. As the chase passes by the video store, Bazil runs out to see the commotion. Just as he exits the store, a stray bullet flies out from the action movie taking place outside and catches him in the head, wounding, but not killing him. He is transported to a hospital where the doctor decides that he does not feel like chancing the surgery and leaves the bullet in Bazil's head.

As Bazil attempts to return to his life, he finds that everything has moved on without him. His apartment has been rented to someone new and his job has been giving to a cute young girl who gives him the bullet casing that was found in the street, remnants of the moment that changed everything. Bazil attempts to live a normal life, panhandling in order to get by. He is soon taken in by a group of eccentrics that will act as his family. While gathering junk he notices a building that bears the same symbol that was on the bullet casing. He then looks across the street and sees the symbol that was on the landmine that killed his father. The rest of the film then follows Bazil and his group as they seek to take down both companies.

The first thing that must be said about this film is how beautiful it is. Jeunet proves that a great filmmaker truly is an artist as each shot is more beautiful than the next. The viewer is never aware of just how fast the film often moves. Despite numerous jump cuts, a signature of Jeunet, the film feels very smooth, somehow avoiding the feeling that the film was edited by a child with ADD on a sugar high that often occurs with this technique. However, the film does have its flaws.

There is little character development throughout the film. The most well developed character, no surprise, is Bazil. The peripheral characters all seem to be one note jokes that are simply there to help both the story and Bazil move forward. I can honestly say that I cannot name any of the other characters in the movie, often referring to them as The Mother Figure, The Bendy Chick and That Human Cannonball Guy just to name a few. Of the eccentric group that Bazil runs with, each one has his own quirk with little to no development past that. The viewer is expected to accept these quirks and not dig any deeper into the characters. There truly is no fully three-dimensional character in the film.

Micmacs is consistently funny and ends in a way that will leave you smiling. The film is a feast for the eyes despite its lack of character development. If you like Amélie, you will like Micmacs. After five long years, it is great to be able to reenter Jeunet's world of whimsy.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet's 'Micmacs' has definite echoes of his first film 'Delicatessan', a wonderful aesthetic (a strange mixture of world war two and contemporary), a story with an edge of darkness, but also with a quirky heart. It's more whimsical than that earlier movie, but fun in the manner of the best cartoons - indeed, it's rare to see a live action movie more imbued with a cartoon-y aesthetic, and the its visual imagination bursts from every scene.. Perhaps there isn't quite enough at stake you make you care desperately about the plot: it's a tale of bad people (and their downfall), whereas 'Delicatessan' was a (much scarier) story of a whole world gone bad. But it's a fun, sweet film with a definite sense of its own style: there's not too much not to like here.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet is probably the most exciting film maker today. Sadly, though, he isn't all that prolific. But, when he releases a new film I am sure to see it as so many of his movies are brilliant and 100% unique--something you can't say about most people in the industry. So far, he's only directed six full-length films but they include the wonderful "Amélie", "A Very Long Engagement", "Delicatessen" and "City of Lost Children". This is a veritable pantheon of weirdness--and I can't believe his track record.

The film stars Dany Boon ("The Valet", "Joyeaux Noel" and other films). He is severely injured in a senseless accident. When he gets out of the hospital, he's lost his home and his job. He survives by living on the street and using his wits. Eventually, he's approached by a man representing a group of weirdos who live among the refuse and scavenge. However, these are not ordinary homeless folks--many of them have amazing skills--such as extreme flexibility, the ability to act as a human cannonball, etc.. In many ways, they are a bit like the folks from "Mystery Men" or the TV show "The Head"--strange yet lovable.

Boon has an ax to grind. It seems that the bullet and gun that injured him was made by some VERY irresponsible arms dealers--the sort who have no scruples and like the idea of maiming as many as possible with their weapons. So, Boon decides he will destroy these man--and his new friends will help. Their plan is complex and much like what you'd see in an episode of "Mission: Impossible" if it starred people from a carnival! And, despite the seriousness of the matter, it all manages to be funny and a bit dark--but mostly funny.

The film has TONS of weird and almost impossible to describe moments. It's a great example of a film you can't really describe but one you just need to see for yourself--especially since Jeunet is such a visual director. And, it is well worth it for many reasons other than just the highly imaginative plot. The acting is great, the characters terrific and the director's style is second to none. See this film! And, if you do, look for all the odd looking characters--much like you'd do in a Fellini film. My favorite was the one bit character that looked for all the world like Marlon Brando!

I saw this film in France today and it's a very good surprise... I didn't know the plot of the story so the beginning was a little surprising, but gets quickly to the general atmosphere of the movie. A little crazy, but very well filmed, colorful, very good cast. Dany Boon is finally a great actor. I like idea to laugh at the weapon industry.

This film made me think of Slevin (those who have seen will understand).

If you know Jean-Pierre Jeunet's filmography you can blindly jump in. It's difficult to do quality and quantity, but when you see his work you have no doubt about what he choose.

I recommend.

By the director of Delicatessen and Amelie, this is closer to the earlier one. It's that mad jumble of images and daring camera-work again. And again it turns out to be a film quite unlike the one you were expecting. I'm sure someone has said this somewhere already, but it's worth repeating. I'm talking about Fellini on acid.

After an electrifying prologue in which our hero is orphaned, the screen explodes into a big-budget retro Hollywood opening and the story begins.

Almost right away our man Bazil, played by star of the French screen Danny Boon, is wounded by a stray bullet, losing his job after a long spell in hospital. He's saved from oblivion by a family of freaky misfits who live underground, surviving by rescuing the junk society throws out and giving it new life.

What Bazil really wants is to get his own back on the two arms manufacturers who messed up his life, and his new friends are the perfect mates for carrying out such a scheme. They include a human cannonball, a numbers genius, a circus contortionist and a robot inventor, and their plots are just as wacky as they are.

Talking of plots, the story, packed though it is with fantastic imagery as if it were a story about bad adults written by very clever children, races along regardless. The scene where Bazil gets shot is itself so much more than a simple zap with a bullet. It's a short film in itself, and the whole thing is full of chunks like that. It really is too much to eat at one sitting, and I would recommend a second look. You'll probably see me there, in the front row, my jaw in my lap.