En attendant Bojangles

En attendant Bojangles, the book as well as the film, is in my point of view a masterpiece, and yes, nothing less! The film made a particular impression on me, I came out of it completely overwhelmed. The music, the settings, the actors: everything is there to poetize Olivier Bourdeaut's novel. Maybe I didn't have enough imagination when I read the book? Taking us from laughter to tears without warning, En Attendant Bojangles portrays two lovers, Camille (Virginie Effira) and George (Romain Duris), who laugh at norms and preconceived ideas. Coloured by this "Insoutenable légèreté de l'être", this film explains the importance of preserving innocence, joy, and of always continuing to dance in a world that is far too serious and responsible. If the fantasy and imagination of Georges is beautiful and poetic, it seems that he fights against his reason for love so as to never disappoint his Camille. Yet, the two lovers are caught up with reality as Camille gradually sinks into madness. Maybe there are some lengths, especially during the scenes in the middle of the film in the psychiatric hospital? Maybe some of Camille's madness episodes are a bit exaggerated ? Or maybe it was just not what I wanted to see? In any case, all this will never change my opinion on this film which is the highlight of my year!

Wonderful world, louis armstrong once preached, and relatively spoken it is. Even in a mad mad world as portrayed in this french drama flick, about a man and a woman and a child that rides the wave of the present present, and doesnt delve a minute about any worries in the world. But something aint right in this world and the story takes us deep into the world of the schizophrenic, a story walking on the borderline of manic depressive tensions of a young female ad/hd'er, an unheard of state of mental state back then in the 1950's, and this familys fight against the monsters ,in the name of love...

its a very warm and emotional production, the cast is spot on target french and the location seekers have really done their job making this something special to watch. It will play on all your emotional strings so beware that it might slap you in the face. Musical score and dancing setups are full of flare an bouchet, so set your mind 60 years back and watch and feel. Grumpy old man did and recommends.

We start at a swanky party where "Georges" (Romain Duris) is working his way around the guests regaling them with some tales that wouldn't have looked out of place in "Bedtime Story" (1964). Fearing that he's about to be rumbled, he tries for an hasty exit and that is when he encounters "Camille" (Virginia Efira) who is amidst some sort of solo dancing performance that captivates him. Romance blossoms, "Gary" (Solan Machado Graner) is born and the three embark on their lively and frenetic lives together. Up until now, this film is an unremarkable and rather bitty, episodic, comedy that sails very close to the winds of annoyance. Now, though, as the story has advanced a few years, it becomes a far more interesting and poignant tale as it is clear that "Camille" is losing the plot. She is prone to irrational outbursts, to violence and this is worrying her family and her friends. Help is sought and acquired but father and son cannot live without their girl and so concoct a plan to rescue her and abscond to a beautiful villa by the sea where they can all live happily ever after. It takes a brave storyteller to try and make a dark comedy from the subject of mental illness, and by combining a solid effort from Duris, a creative and engaging one from Efira and the frankly scene stealing contributions of the young Graner, Régis Roinsard just about gets away with it. Sometimes the humour is a little too surreal and in your face, but as the plot develops we are gradually drawn into their family predicament and I found myself feeling quite a bit of sympathy as you can sort of guess what is going to happen at the end. If you can forgive the first twenty minutes, then the film depicts a story that touches a few human emotions - love and selfishness chief amongst them, and is actually quite a decent watch.

Ok, the first twenty minutes or so of this movie did not totally grab me but I was happy to sit there and see how it panned out and I'm glad that I did - a wonderfully made and acted movie with, I would admit, a few thin patches but the final 30 or so minutes were riveting. The acting by all the cast was remarkable but in particular Virginie Efira who I hope to see more of (yes, I know that she showed us her all in the nude sequence !). A quirky tragi-comedy enjoyable in every respect. How anyone could be totally negative about this movie is beyond me but of course each to their own.

I think the problem here was that a) the author of the book was involved with the screenplay and b) the director/c0-screenwriter was in awe of the material/author. If ever something needed more distance from the material, this was it. Someone suggested that, unlike the book, they didn't need a narrator. This was the fatal flaw. Without the audience understanding that this was the son's retelling of the family story, his parents just came across os self-involved narcissists. The film was so desperate to capture a charming effervescent mood that everything was leaden. When the story turned dark, it was hard to know how to react. The performances were OK, if rather forced. I wanted to escape the cinema after 20 minutes.