Les fugitifs

There is one thing the Americans are good at: taking a perfectly good French Movie and totally stuffing it up – and they change very little in it as well. This movie is the original French version of what became Three Fugitives, and this movie is by far the better.

What is amazing is that the two movies are almost identical, right down to the scene where the robber has a stocking over his head, and when he removes a pin from a grenade, the stocking melts, but it is done far better in the French movie than it is done in the American.

Basically the movie is about a professional bank robber who is released from gaol and happens to end up in a bank that is held up, and he is taken hostage. Because the police do not trust him, they accuse him of robbing the bank. The third fugitive is a little girl who has not spoken since her mother died.

The basic themes of this movie is about relationships, and how one's actions can destroy the lives of more than one person. Here the bank robber not only upsets his life, but also the life of his little girl and the recently released convict. He believes that by doing this he will help out his little girl, but in the end he ends up hurting her. It is also interesting to see that the convict has a human heart (what else is he going to have?). What I mean is that he acts with a cold and mean demeanor, but in truth he does care for the girl, and the robber who is really just stupid.

This is a cute little film, especially the one made in France. The little girl is just adorable, and her sad demeanor does tear your heart.

I am glad to see, that the rating of the movie stands at an exact 7.0/10, well at the time of writing this review anyway. It is exactly how I feel about the movie. Based on the trailers, I've exepcted an absurd comedy and it is what I got, in the first half anyway. The second half of the movie, while still having it's funny moments, deals more with a parental drama of the strugling single dad who was pushed into the robery.

It might be the case, that with some time to reflect on the movie I might increase the rating, because the later part did give the movie heart. The bottom line is, I did not feel like the movie was excellent when I finished watching it, only OK/pretty good. Having that said I can fully recomend viewing it, while it is indeed a good time.

When Gérard Depardieu gets released from prison, he vows to go straight. It's a very unlucky break for him when that same day, he's an innocent bystander in a bank robbery. The robber, Pierre Richard, takes a hostage so he can flee the bank, and by sheer coincidence, he takes Gérard. The police think Gérard has taken Pierre hostage, since he's the known criminal, and Gérard's dreams of living the straight-and-narrow go up in flames.

While most of the movie is a very cute comedy, with two different men thrown together and eventually finding common ground and friendship, there's another layer of the movie that's sweet and touching. Pierre has a young daughter, Anaïs Bret, who hasn't spoken since her mother died, and while his actions aren't according to the law, it's easy to see why he does them. She's such a doll, and her loyalty and innocence soften both the leads. There's an adorable scene where Gérard collapses from pain and blood loss after running from the police on an injured leg. He's exposed and unconscious, and little Anaïs runs after him, then sits beside him as a watchdog to make sure no one else hurts him. She stays with him all night, eventually curling up beside him and falling asleep in his arms. After that scene, the audience will wholeheartedly approve of anything the two "fugitives" do because they know they're doing it for her.

I love this movie, because both Gérard and Pierre put their hearts on their sleeves in front of the camera. Tension relies on emotion, and there's plenty of both in this movie. If this sounds good to you but you don't think you can handle the subtitles, there was an American remake in 1989 with Nick Nolte and Martin Short. I loved this version, since Gérard Depardieu is one of my favorite celebrity boyfriends. With his feathery blond hair, his vulnerable eyes, and his sensitive smile, I don't think I've ever seen him looking more gorgeous. I'll probably have to watch the movie again, since I was too busy drooling over him to read every single subtitle.

because it's her only movie as she took a career as teacher.

Anyway this is a great movie that brilliantly mixes drama and comedy: it's about a single father who is pushed to the limits by markets law (jobless) but rather to find a bluesy movie, we have a funny one because this poor lad is rather unlucky! It may be the last team-up between Gerard and Pierre but it may be their best because they are in symbiosis now and above all, they are really tied together by the essential link of this child: she is really the heart of the movie and with few words (she is nearly mute) every body will understand all the joy and responsibility to be a parent. At last, this movie smells good the 80s when the french cinema was popular, faraway of Paris and the Bobos, made with limited money but real conviction so it's a high recommendation! As it's indeed a great french movie, I really wonder what the American remake looks like, all the more than the cast seems appropriate with Short and Nolte

Pierre Richard and Gerard Depardieu reteam to star in this dynamite comedy about an ex-con (Depardieu) who has just been released from the slammer when he is taken hostage by bumbling robber (Richard) during a moronic bank heist which the robber hopes will help find a cure for his daughter who hasn't spoken since her mother died, three years ago. When the plug is pulled on Richard's bank heist, the police are summoned and Depardieu, out of the many hostages in the bank at the time, is selected to be the robber's ticket out without a shot being fired, but then, of course, the cops think Depardieu is pulling the heist and the two become fugitives. There is only one way out of this fine mess: cross the border, which is exactly what they do in what is potentially the funniest scene in film history. The two men pose as husband and wife (Richard wears a wig, of course), and his daughter's hair is cut and she poses as the son, but crossing the border isn't as easy as it was originally made out to be. Richard's daughter thinks she is going to vomit and Richard shows her how, by sticking his head out the window, thus losing the wig, which is flattened by a passing truck. Everything is back to normal after having retrieved the wig, but Richard is then mistaken for a pregnant woman and is rushed to hospital by roadblocking police. All fits in nicely in what is a modern comic gem.