Vidocq

Yet another "Galliwood" movie, with all the typical French pluses and minuses. On the plus side, it is more original than most Hollywood movies: I particularly like the spectacular, original and surrealistic photography (powerfully blended with digital computer animation). On the negative side, the story is perhaps a bit dull and incoherent; though it is still more inventive than most stories from the same genre. In overall, this is an enjoyable piece. It would deserve much more attention (and financial success) than it actually receives, but "Galliwood" suffers from the lack of effective marketing infrastructure.

Want to see Gérard Depardieu in a steampunk action fantasy? Then you'll want to watch Dark Portals: The Chronicles of Vidocq. It's a bit weird, but lots of foreign movies are weird, just as I'm sure lots of American movies are weird to non-Americans.

If you're into the fantasy genre, you've probably seen lots of movies like this. A mysterious killer who never allows anyone to see his face. The hero killed off in the first five minutes, falling into a fiery pit and leaving the other characters the rest of the running time to solve his murder. That old strudel. This isn't my usual film fare, but I'll watch literally anything with Gérard in it, so the scenes he was in were worth it.

DLM warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. Be on the lookout for swirling cameras that will make you sick. In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!"

It takes place in 1830 in Paris. Vidocq is the name of the main character who's based on an actual French historical figure that's considered one of the pioneers of scientific police (think CSI). He's played by probably the most famous French actor living today: Gérard Depardieu. Rather originally, the title character dies in the first 5 minutes of the film. The rest of the story alternates between the investigation of a journalist retracing Vidocq's steps and flashbacks of Vidocq's last case. The original screenplay was written by best-selling French mystery writer, Jean-Christophe Grangé. It was his first original screenplay, and he says it will be his last, and not because he wasn't happy with it. This last case of Vidocq involves the murder of notables by lightning strike. The journalist's investigation takes us from person to person in a rather linear fashion. The investigation itself is not particularly gripping, but there are a couple of big twists at the end. The "bad guy" sports a very cool mirror mask. The fantastical elements originate from the mirror mask person, not everything is real or scientifically explained.

The special effects in general, with a couple of exceptions, are pretty well done, particularly the mask's reflections. It's apparently the first commercial feature film made completely with a digital camera (as opposed to a camera with film). This means that the picture quality, at the time, was crisper than usual, also giving it an unusual look. Lots of work has been done on lighting and colours. The colours are very vivid and favour the colours red, yellow and green. The decors are a mix of real life and digital trickery, they usually look very good and unlike your standard American films. Despite taking place in the 19th century, the editing is modern and very fast, with lots of very quick close-ups. I personally didn't like that style of frenetic cutting because the cuts often seemed unnecessary and made things either less involving or a little harder to assimilate. The characters seemed a bit on the shallow side to me, but then it's more about action, mystery and suspense with a touch of fantastical. Vidocq was compared to the film Seven but in 1830. It's nowhere near as good in any regard, except perhaps for visual style, very different anyway.

The director, Pitof, was a special effects supervisor for most of his career (City of Lost Children, Alien IV) and his following project was directing the infamous Catwoman. It's likely he got that job because of Vidocq. I find that the director Pitof is not very good at telling a story, has trouble with pacing and making us care about the characters. Vidocq is worth renting (or buying cheap) for the spiffy visuals alone. Overall, the movie is not bad but not memorable either. It's likely that a more talented director (Burton, Fincher, Jeunet, etc) with the same material could have done a lot better.

Rating: 6 out of 10 (Good) P.S. There are no portals, dark or otherwise.

I really wasn't ready to enjoy "Vidocq" having heard a friend of mine telling me he felt like throwing up in the middle of the movie, due to the peculiar camera angles and motion. But having some time to lose while waking up in front of TV, why not take a look?

And I was really taken in that old-Paris atmosphere, which I found strangely bewitching... I did not find the special FX better than in other big budget movies, but "different", finally something original, kind of an nightmarish, apocalyptic surrounding... The storyline had some nice parts to it, but we could have had more. Depardieu was pretty good, Dussollier as well, as opposed to a dreadful Guillaume Canet...

Overall, an interesting movie, with pluses and minuses, I was glad to see it but I won't buy the DVD.... 6/10

Pitof's style and design comes blazing through, in a kind of high-octane version of the work he did for Jeunet & Caro - a mixture of French garishness and Tim-Burton-esque gothic fantasy and detail. Also reminded me a bit of Alex Proyas' design on Dark City.

The plot gallops along, with Depardieu appearing in flashback scenes throughout while his biographer, the police, a decadent journalist and his sidekick all try to re-trace his steps, solve the bizarre murders and capture the Alchemist (if he or she even exists)!

There's so much going on on-screen that it's a complete feast for the eyes, especially once femme fatale Preah gets mixed up in the mystery.

I also thought it was so refreshing to see the investigative duo of Vidocq and Nimier, because they are both coarse, brainy & brawny (like two bears in top hats), whereas any Hollywood film would surely add numerous physical & character defects. You'd also lose the wonderful surreal Frenchness of the setting, and almost grotesque supporting characters.

The Alchemist is a great baddie - not superhuman, but you're not quite sure (for a long time anyway) if he/she is really supernatural or not - or of his/her motivation, and by the last half hour you think it could be virtually any of the main characters under the mask, which sets you up for a really good revelation or two & a battle at the end.

An exciting movie (complex, but not difficult), and not one dull moment. I'm not sure what some of the negative reviewers were watching, because if you liked Sleepy Hollow or From Hell, you'll adore this.