Fanfan la Tulipe

The superb star quality of Gerard Philipe, who died way too young, leaps from the screen in this witty, funny, sly swashbuckling comedy with plenty of sword fencing and knockabout antics. Charmingly loopy in its' storytelling, impossible to resist. A sweet romantic comedy with a very young Gina Lollobrigida as the love interest. A movie one will remember with great affection.

Okay, perhaps not, but it certainly is a very good adventure-comedy! One of the best of its kind. It has everything: romance, swordfights, abductions, witty bantering between characters, sly remarks about war. And it can boast of inspired casting, with Gérard Philipe at his romantic peak, all handsome and dashing, with soulful eyes, sensitive features, and a beautiful, velvety speaking voice. A very young Gina Lollobrigida was never more alluring, and the stupid villain, the amorous king Louis, and the slimy royal valet Lébel are all great character actors. In fact there's never a dull moment in this gem of a French film! And didn't it win the main prize at Cannes?

This is the last of four swashbucklers from France I've scheduled for viewing during this Christmas season: the others (in order of viewing) were the uninspired THE BLACK TULIP (1964; from the same director as this one but not nearly as good), the surprisingly effective LADY Oscar (1979; which had originated as a Japanese manga!) and the splendid CARTOUCHE (1962). Actually, I had watched this one not too long ago on late-night Italian TV and recall not being especially bowled over by it, so that I was genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed it this time around (also bearing in mind the baffling lack of enthusiasm shown towards the film here and elsewhere when it was first announced as an upcoming DVD release from Criterion).

Incidentally, FANFAN LA TULIPE has quite a bit in common with the afore-mentioned CARTOUCHE: not just cast and crew members (producers Georges Dancigers and Alexandre Mnouchkine, cinematographer Christian Matras, actor Noel Roquevert) but plot-wise as well – in fact, the hero is a womanizing soldier (Jean-Paul Belmondo's Cartouche had also had a brief military spell) who's loved by a fiery girl (in this case, gypsy Gina Lollobrigida) while he's himself obsessed by an impossible love (here, it's none other than the king's daughter)! As in the later film, too, Fanfan (an ideally cast Gerard Philipe who, ironically, is so full of life here that one finds it hard to believe that he would be stricken down by cancer within 7 years' time) is flanked by two fun-loving yet cowardly men (one of them is actually his superior officer and the heroine's own father) and opposed by an unscrupulous figure within his own ranks (the ageing Roquevert, with whom the hero eventually engages in a rooftop duel since he too has amorous designs on the gypsy girl)!; for the record, Lollobrigida will rejoin Philippe in her next film, Rene Clair's delightful romantic fantasy LES BELLES DE NUIT (1952).

FANFAN proved to be a big box-office hit on its home-ground and even copped a surprising (but well-deserved) Best Direction award at Cannes over more renowned films like AN American IN Paris (1951), DETECTIVE STORY (1951), OTHELLO, UMBERTO D. and VIVA ZAPATA! In fact, its popularity ensured its re-release in a computer-colored version (presumably for the benefit of viewers who wouldn't touch a black-and-white product with a ten-foot pole) and the Criterion DVD itself contains a sample from this variant; being obviously a foreign-language title, there's also the dubious choice of an English-dubbed soundtrack but, even if these proved not especially painful to sit through considering, when all is said and done, there's simply no substitute for the original!

FANFAN LA TULIPE (a nickname given the hero by a young Genevieve Page as the celebrated Madame De Pompadour) contains about as much comedy as (the expected) action and romance; while some may find this overwhelming, I don't agree myself as I enjoyed the sharply satirical narration and, on the whole, this combination is comparable with Jerzy Skolimowski's equally droll THE ADVENTURES OF GERARD (1970). That said, the swordfights here are remarkably forceful for an essentially lighthearted enterprise (particularly a scuffle in the woods and the ambush at a convent) and the film itself rather adult at times (with numerous allusions to sexuality as well as coarse language adopted throughout) when viewed back-to-back with vintage Hollywood fare as I did now; the climax, then is quite ingenious: the enemy forces (who, amusingly, are made to speak in speeded-up gibberish!) are depleted by our heroic trio alone, much to the king's amazement who, as portrayed by Marcel Herrand – best-known for his role of leader of the Parisian underworld in Marcel Carne''s CHILDREN OF PARADISE (1945) – is himself something of a lecher.

P.S. An Italian TV channel has been threatening to screen Christian-Jaque's promising CHAMPAGNE FOR SAVAGES (1964) for months now but, despite programming it three times already (with a tentative fourth one slated for next week), they have yet to show it; even so, I do have three more films of his in my unwatched VHS pile (equally culled from late-night Italian TV screenings): the three-hour epic LA CHARTREUSE DE PARME (1948; also starring Gerard Philippe), THE SECOND TWIN (1967) and THE LEGEND OF FRENCHIE KING (1971; with Brigitte Bardot and Claudia Cardinale).

There's much to enjoy in this joyous French swashbuckler, particularly since it doesn't contain one slow moment. The action is almost nonstop, and all the performers contribute hilarious and heartfelt moments that make "FanFan la Tulipe" a delightful romp. It was a huge box office hit in France, turning both the handsome and charismatic Gérard Philipe and the beautiful and voluptuous Gina Lollobrigida into big stars.

The story is set during the reign of King Louis XV, and the character Fanfan as played by the splendid Gérard Philipe is sort of a French "Tom Jones." He's a guy who can't help but get in trouble with the ladies, and the opening scene has him escaping a "shotgun wedding" by spontaneously enlisting in the French military. Unfortunately, soon this way of life doesn't agree with Fanfan, and he winds up getting himself even deeper into trouble. Gina Lollobrigida plays the seductive daughter of the Commanding Officer of Fanfan's unit, who inspires Fanfan by making an unusual prediction for his future -- one which she later comes to regret.

The choreography of the sword battles and the other physical confrontations are top-notch, very unpredictable and absolutely hilarious. A stunt double was hardly (if ever!) used for the athletic Philipe, and it's obviously the French star doing most of the work. I heard that the actual stunt men working the movie presented him with an certificate when the shooting wrapped, which named Philipe as an honorary stuntman himself. Most of what Philipe accomplishes here has to be seen to be believed. Jumping from rooftops, dangling from trees, wild horseback chases and so much more lend a wild energy to the proceedings.

Perhaps the only downside for me at least was that "Fanfan la Tulipe" is filmed in black and white. If ever there was a film that cried out for color -- this is the one. The locales, costumes, sets and props would have been magnificent in color, I think. In fact, on the Criterion DVD that I watched, they included one sequence that had been colorized. It looked great, and although I would never suggest that every b&w film would be better with color, this one certainly would. For those unaware, the colorization process has made great advances since the 1980's, and they can now make the colors look as vibrant or as subtle as the scene dictates it should be.

The supporting cast also provides lots of enjoyment, and I'd be neglectful not to mention a few of these fine European actors. Geneviève Page is supremely beautiful, icy with an undercurrent of passion as Madame Pompadour, Olivier Hussenot is wonderful as Fanfan's loyal sidekick who's saddled with six small children and an obese peasant wife. Nerio Bernardi makes a comically despicable antagonist who meets a poetic fate eventually.

So, I'd highly recommend this to fans of Errol Flynn movies, especially since Philipe conveys some of the same boyish and naughty charm of that classic star. Director Christian-Jaque formed an adventurous and romantic comedy that has loads of charm and thrills. Swashbuckling at its best!

***** out of *****

This is a tongue in cheek movie from the very outset with a voice-over that pokes fun at everything French and then produces a rather naif but very brave hero in Fanfan La Tulipe. Portrayed by the splendid Gerard Philippe, the dashing young man believes utterly in the fate curvaceous Lollobrigida foretells - notably that he will marry King Louis XV's daughter! Problem is, La Lollo soon find outs she too is in love with Fanfan...

Propelled by good sword fights, cavalcades, and other spirited action sequences the film moves at a brisk pace and with many comic moments. The direction is perhaps the weakest aspect but the film is so light and takes itself so un-seriously that I could not give those shortcomings a second thought. Look out for Noel Roquevert, a traditional heavy in French films, trying to steal La Lollo, making himself a nuisance, and feeding the script to the fortune teller that reads La Lollo's hand! And what a gem Marcel Herrand is as the megalomanous and lust-driven King Louis XV! That is not all: So many beautiful women in one film makes me wish I were in France and on the set back in 1952! The film may have come out that year but its verve, cheek, superb narration, immaculate photography and the memorable Gerard Philippe ensure that it remains modern and a pleasure to watch. I would not hesitate to recommend it to my grandchildren let alone to anyone who loves movies in general and swashbucklers in particular! Do see it!