O Jovem Guerreiro

Eugene Le Roy's book has become a classic .It was transferred to the screen as (very good)TV miniseries by Stellio Lorenzi in the late sixties.

Jaquou's story was told in the first person by a very old man (Jaquou) who remembered all his trials.It was told with a great simplicity .One remembers the first chapter (Christmas night) when the child and his mother attend the service in an icy church ,then watch the food intended for the nobles ."There's nothing good in here" the mom says ,when they come back home.This scene is completely botched in the film.

Boutonnat butchered "Jaquou Le Croquant".I dare anyone who has read the book to like it.Taking liberties with Eugene Leroy ,the movie turns the oubliettes scene (one page or two) into a horror sequence where Jaquou escapes without any help (Le Roy never wrote such nonsense).The long conversations between the priest and the freethinker knight are reduced to the minimum,which is a shame for Olivier Gourmet ,Tcheky Karyo and veteran Dora Doll (she was already there in the French forties)as Fantille give the best performances of the movie.

In the last thirty minutes,Boutonnat turns Jaquou into a French Rambo ,with the crowds ridiculously chanting his name (JA-QUOU!JA-QUOU!JA-QUOU !) as if they were on a stadium ,cheering their favorite football player.Whereas Le Roy's style came straight from the heart (his hatred for the royalty and the Ancien Regime was real but he did not impose a history lesson upon his readers),Boutonnat uses a showy style,using too many slow motion pictures ,squandering the high budget in video game style battles .

Like in America ,this tendency to remake fine miniseries ("Belphegor","Jaquou" )as silver screen movies has become a curse in France.

I agree with those who praise this movie for having fabulous cinematography. There are many picturesque scenes and the natural settings are beautifully captured. And if you're a Gaspard Ulliel fan, you'll probably die for this movie because the whole camera angles seem to be set to compliment his looks.

But aside from these aspects, the movie is quite awkward. Not to mention strange use of slow-mo, the plot jumps around and lines are ill-written. Comic reliefs pop up in inappropriate moments and the director seems to be trying hard to include pretty much every possible characters in the script. It would've been better if they had been given less to speak. Now they look like they're trying to convince the audience how they're feeling. There is no art of silence in Jacquou le Croquant. This may be due to lack of acting talent observed throughout the movie (perhaps exception of Tchéky Karyo). Gaspard Ulliel exhibits no emotions, not so much as intense anger or frustration. You'll know how serious I am when I say his performance in Hannibal Rising seems much better by comparison. There is no charisma when he leads the townspeople to rioting; he looks like he's being led by someone else.

What the movie promises on its poster or DVD cover is a powerful historical piece with intriguing characters and extravagant battle scenes. You'll find none of those in Jacquou le Croquant. When you think about it, there's really nothing new in the storyline: an orphan of a lower class who is treated unjustly by a noble and is driven to vengeance. And in such a genre as this one does not need much skill to act. The roles are simple and clearly laid out; these aren't some complex characters which deserve a long time of research. And with accomplished cinematography, Jacquou le Croquant should've been much better.

I would recommend this movie if you like all things French (like I do) or Gaspard Ulliel, or if you'd just give it a go for the sake of beautiful scenes. However if you put heavy emphasis on plot structure or are just tempted by the poster, this movie isn't worth your money.

I'm not a connoisseur of French cinema, so this movie was an incursion into little-known land for me. It was based on a book that I never found in a book-store, so I do not know how to judge the quality of the adaptation. About the film, specifically, I can say that I did not think it was totally bad, but it could be downright better. The film entertains, but it is too melodramatic, is loaded with exaggerated appeals to the sentimentality and, at times, sounds absurd.

Let's start with the positive aspects ... among the actors, the young Leo Legrand stands out in a sentimental and emotional interpretation, Marie-Josée Croze in a brave character and Jocelyn Quivrin, who managed to turn the villain into a truly despicable figure. Gaspard Ulliel, Albert Dupontel and Olivier Gourmet, despite the prominence of their characters, did only what they had to do. The dialogues and interpretations did not prevail for the dedication, but fulfilled with the minimum required. The scenarios, the construction of the period environments and the costumes are very good, emphasizing the historical rigour. The soundtrack sounded just as good.

The plot starts from a very interesting idea, which is a story of revenge and struggle against injustice in the midst of post-Napoleonic France ... a time when royal power wanted to reverse the most radical ideas of the revolutionary period and come back to the old order. After an injustice that cost the life of his father, Jacquou will devote his life to fighting the man behind his misfortune. The problem starts with the amount of clichés that are appearing, and that get worse as the film moves towards the end. The siege of the castle is truly unbelievable, just like the scenes in the underground or love triangle in the movie. The action scenes are awful, some of them totally absurd and unrealistic.

This movie is not a total waste of time, but it is very close to it and saved only by the details.

Excellent story, narrated in a strong raw sentimental way. With great performing from everyone in the cast as well as every cinematographic aspect. Photography, more than beautiful. Even though the picture is quite long, it didn't turned me off one second. It made me feel sad and happy, it made me cry, it made me wish hope for the character "Jacquou". It gave me weird/good deep feelings,(whatever that means). It is also impossible not to fall in love with the petite Jaquou and Lina and their performances.

Laurent Boutonnat did and excellent film that entertains and enchants. As usual, you couldn't expect less from French Cinema.

Don't miss it!

Jacquou le Croquant is a good production that is unfortunately too long and too slow. Some parts are unnecessary and could have been taken out, or at least shortened. These two flaws will turn off a lot of people.

However, if you can keep up with the snail pace, the movie is pretty good with a fair mix of action and touching moments. The first part of the story follows Jacquou as a young boy who loses both of his parents, and ends up being taken care of by the churchman of the village. The second part covers his revenge against the man who is responsible for the death of his parents now that he is a young man.

The dialogues and acting isn't all that great, but the actor(s) playing Jacquou is cute as a kid and handsome as an adult (the two lead actresses are very beautiful as well). The sceneries and imagery is simply breathtaking and the melodies enchanting. The movie is definitely great to look at, if anything, despite the weak storyline (but still does the job of staying interesting all the way through).

Jacquou le Croquant is nothing special, but to the right audience it's a good movie in all respect.