IP5 - L'isola dei pachidermi

This beautiful and stimulating movie continues Beineix's orientation towars socially marginal male anti-establishmentarian characters on a romantic quest. The visual lyricism and meditative nature of this film are wonderful, although the plot seems less coherent than in Diva. If you liked that latter film, this is definitely worth seeking out and watching for similar elements, a whiff of contemporary France's multiculturalism and inequality and a deeper sense of longing for romantic or spiritual fulfillment. Beineix can be faulted for keeping the female characters in this film on the level of pure archetype, but this male pseudo-Butch-and-Sundance road movie has humor, keen visuals and variety.

This movie has an awful reputation in France because it could be involved in Montand death by stroke. Thus it's really awkward to watch him die in the movie, in a hospital bed by a same stroke. Anyway I picked it for Géraldine who was an excellent choice as she plays again a nurse: as she is always focused and caring, this kind of part suits her nicely. At the end, it's a movie that is one of its kind: you can feel that Beinex has a real talent with the camera and light and can also write a story about generations and also about our country France.

"IP5: The Island of Pachyderms" is a highly unconventional road movie that gets it right in everything is set out to be: as the unusual encounter of two criminal youngsters with a crazed/mystical runaway elderly, with both parts helping each other on their life quest, it manages to be a funny, charming, thrilling and dramatic film about the peculiar and apparently random encounters of life where lost souls find one another to fulfill a specific life purpose, whether big or small, and with that unexpected union they're no longer lost in life, love or whatever higher purpose might be. Cinema du look representative Jean-Jacques Beineix ("Diva", "Betty Blue") makes one of his finest films but also the one where he was harshly criticised the most back of its release. Totally unfair and undeserving.

It's so strange that for the few times I heard about the film and its apparent story it always struck me as something dark or violent, and the main curiosity in seeing it was the chance of seeing the great Yves Montand on his final performance - of which French press at the time "blamed it" on the director. It starts out in a very downer manner as we're introduced to the two criminals, Tony (Olivier Martinez), an obsessive graffiti artist and his sidekick, the smart pre-teen Jockey (Sekkou Sall), who deals with an alcoholic father at home.

Between the dark and down bits they face, comes to their lives a young nurse (Géraldine Pailhas), of whom Tony falls in love for the first time yet he keeps being rejected with good reasons, called time and again as an "empty shell"; and the most bizarre encounter of all after robbing a car there's an old man in the backseat, the helpful Leon (Montand) who's on a personal journey walking through the wilderness to find the island of the title. Something special is waiting for him, he's sure, and after helping the younger duo in difficult situations, they follow the old man who might help them out with their wishes: Tony wanting to find the nurse, love of his life; and the kid with seeing mountains and the snow, something he always dreamed.

The greatest appeal of "IP5" is in simply not falling for any kind of cliche or preditable route. The unexpected is most welcome, most fascinating and most intriguing in everything Mr. Beineix carefully puts on the screen - the only small problem relates to leaving Gloria, the nurse, as too much of a background character despite her importance in moving the man alive, but the film is about the trio journey and how they deal with one another despite their different stages of life. One great example about how Beineix destroys what's expected is how the rival gang, who puts Tony in a dangerous mission, never returns once they're presented. 99% of writers/directors would make them return when the journey and the problems were near the end and you'd easily go thinking about how obvious it'd be.

If the majority of films from the cinema du look seem to evoke more style than a relevant substance, "IP5" proves that plenty of depth can be found. It's one of those stories where audiences are challenged and intrigued about the unusual ways of life, the happy accidents that might not be accidents of all, if there's such a thing as fate or destiny, and the forces of universe that set them in motion for better or worse. And we will ever know if Leon/Montand was one of those crazies sent to earth to confuse poor mortals with his wisdom and actions, or if he was actually someone spiritualized enough to be almost like a god who can cure and be near whenever you need it (the second meeting with him, when the youngsters are stealing another car and the cops show up is hilarious). At its core, it reveals that despite what appearances and initial acts from a certain person are, no one is so bad that they can't find a redemption, and no one's so good to be considered a saint. Ultimately, the human quest for something meaningful in their lives, a sense of purpose or the thing that keep us going through the many strange roads of life until we get some enlightenement or succeed with a mission. Universal themes that are relevant, treated with a sense of great realism and some mystic touch.

I absolutely loved everything about this film, can't wait to see it again in years to come. And the acting from everybody, the newcomers and legendary Yves Montand, was simply spectacular. You're easily compelled by their characters, their nature, either helping or sabotaging one another. It's a lot funnier that one would expect, but when it gets to its more serious themes and reflections of life, we find a pulsating heart that has become rare to find in most films and works of art. 10/10.

A boy, a youth and a seemingly crazy old man are on their way to the Pyrrenees. What are they really searching for? Life & Fulfillment, I guess. But Beineix pulls it off without getting pompous. This movie is mixed, both gentle and harsh at the same time. It's a lot more quiet than Beineix's "Betty Blue", without the same desperation - it's more about pent-up feelings and longing.

All the main characters are played well, especially Sall is incredibly good as the kid. That ending in the sunrise at the Pyrrenees is moving. No guarantee that Betty Blue-fans will like this - but it's really worth checking out!

I saw this at the 1991 Seattle film fest and never heard of it being in cinemas in the US. I should think it would do very well even now. Imagine getting the whole graffiti artist, skater crowd to come to see a French film! They would. Even the title would attract a lot of the hip-hop culture, IP5, sounds pretty contemporary to me! Build it and they will indeed come.

Wonderful film: the production design, dialog, the cinematography & casting are all very, very good. Perhaps this film toured the American college film program circuit in 16mm, not sure. This film really needs to be on DVD so that more people can see it. I imagine the politics & money thing are the reasons it didn't make the natural leap from VHS to DVD.