Agente 117: Rio Não Responde Mais

In late 2011, "The Artist" got released. It went on to win Best Picture (only the second silent movie to do so), as well as Best Actor and Best Director. Prior to its release, I had never heard of Michel Hazanavicius or Jean Dujardin. Right after I saw "The Artist", I saw an earlier collaboration of theirs: "OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies".

"OSS 117: Rio ne répond plus" ("Lost in Rio" in English) is the sequel to that movie. It's a litany of silly fun as Dujardin's suave spy gets sent to the Brazilian metropolis to find a Nazi fugitive. The movie finds time to make fun of stereotypes, namely the chauvinistic Frenchman and the ugly American. There are a few incongruous aspects, but this sort of movie is all about blatantly silly fun, and it's very much a good time, as was "Nest of Spies". As for "The Artist", its win combined with the Oscars won by "Hugo" have hopefully put the "freedom fries" attitude to rest forever.

Comedy spy-thriller with Jean Dujardin as inept secret agent versus nasty high-ranking Nazi played by Rudiger Vogler . Secret agent OSS 117 foils Nazis, beds local beauties , and brings peace to Rio De Janeiro . It's 1967 and the secret agent Hubert Bonisseur De la Bath, a.k.a. OSS 117 is ordered a dangerous investigation in Brazil to the strains of Bossa nova. Hubert Bonisseur is the French spy considered by his superiors to be the best in the business , this time his assistant is the charming Mossad agent who is also seeking the Nazi . He's been sent on a mission to Rio De Janeiro , to look for a former SS officer who went into exile in South America after WWII . His eventful mission takes him all across Brazil , from Rio to Brasilia and the Iguazu Falls , accompanied by a beautiful girl named Dolores Keulachov played by Louise Monot. The man is charming , and so is the young girl spy . Filmed on luxurious sets their tale is by turns an exciting intrigue and a love story . He acts as a playboy , this results to be his cover while he is busy investigating, foiling Nazi attacks and bedding local beauties . Hubert Bonisseur De la Bath, a French spy, is in Brasil to investigate the disappearance an ominous Nazi . He is he smart spy , or is he an imbecile ? He fights well but he's supremely smug and self-confident, even as he's deaf to cultural nuance and others' feelings , so the odds are even that he might survive .

Funny moments along with embarrassing in this second entry about secret agent OSS 117 with a likable Jean Dujardin , role of the accidental spy who doesn't know fear or danger in this comedy spy-thriller . In this entertaining adventure, the most unlikely intelligence officer in French Secret Service must stop a group of international Nazis conspirators led by a previous SS officer before they cause global chaos on the world . Hubert Bonisseur, a French secret agent who dreams of rising beyond his menial job within the OSS organization, after all the other agents are bumped off is hired to discover a microfilm where appears names of collaborationists with Nazis . With one shot at redemption, he must employ all kind of means to unravel a web of conspiracy that runs throughout an ambitious plot . Hubert must use every trick in his play-book to achieve his objectives . For Hugo Bonisseur, disaster may be an option, but failure never is.

This second installment is an acceptable comedy though the formula is well known with 'The Pink Panther' series and recently with 'Johnnny English' by Rowan Atkinson . It stars clumsy Jean Dujardin as one man show accompanied by a gorgeous Louise Monot . The movie gets entertaining and hilarious moments here and there. This slapstick picture contains amusing , funny scenes , fresh and diverting moments but also flaws and gaps . Jean Dujardin steals the show parodying the ordinary international secret agent , James Bond-alike , including his ordinary faces , grimaces and gestures ; he plays stunningly the highly unorthodox agent, the inept and bungler secret agent from OSS .

Appears as secondary the prestigious German actor Rudiger Vogler , Win Wenders's usual ; furthermore two French beauties as Louise Monot and Reem Kherici. The actors seem to enjoy themselves immensely giving funny interpretations . Lively and atmospheric music by Ludovic Bource. Colorful and glimmer cinematography by Schiffman . The film is well penned and directed by Michel Hazanavicius that maintains the slapstick franchise . He also directed in similar style the original film titled ¨OSS 117 El Cairo¨ with Jean Dujarjin and Beatriz Bejo ; both of then will repeat in the successful and recent ¨The artist¨ including Golden Globe nomination . Several chuckles and gags , the result of which is one acceptable second entry . The flick will appeal to comedy fans .

Well actually there are quite a few "Oss 117" movies, but this is the second one with Jean Dujardin as Oss 117! A third one is about to follow (and I hope IMDb is right and it will come out next year/2010). I love the movies. And you actually don't have to have seen the first one ... but it's great, so actually maybe you should (have)! ;o)

Seriously though: Jean Dujardin is back, as an obnoxious agent, but a lovely one at that. An agent, who does not know the word regret and or the meaning of "political correct". So he hasn't changed (really) from part 1, but that's exactly how we like him. With this movie (and the one before that and surely the one after that), you will either love or hate the movie/character.

So are you into a "Bond" movie that actually is rather a spoof and will you love it? I still haven't seen the original movies, but I'm afraid I'm too spoiled by these movies, so I won't really enjoy the earnest Oss 117. Anyway, I can only highly recommend this movie ...

This second OSS 117 is actually some kind of remake of "Furia A Bahia Pour OSS 117" made in the sixties with Frederick Stafford.But the stories are different ,only the location is the same.André Hunebelle's work was entertaining ,but Hazanavicius's beats him hands down.Like the first film ,nothing is to be taken seriously and that's fine with me,particularly with an actor as funny as Jean Dujardin.

A spoof on spy thrillers which does not spare anybody from James Bond to the Nazis to the CIA ,with a lot of hilarious lines .In spite of occasional parts which drag on (the chase in the hospital) ,there's almost never a dull moment in "Rio Ne Repond Plus" (the title ,like in many spy thrillers ,bears no real relation with the plot!) Allusions to James Bond and Hitchcock abound.His Jewish colleagues call him " double one seven" .Bill Trumendous (what a name!) is some kind of Felix Leiter (Ken Samuels ) ,roaring with laughter ("That Hubert!he was a born joker!")and cracking bad jokes .The ending combines "Vertigo" and "North By Norwest" ;the "I've got a screw loose because of something which happened in my past" trick was much better applied on "Le Caire Nid D'Espion" though :the circus is not that convincing.The split screen was a famous gimmick in the second half of the sixties ("the Thomas Crown Affair" " the Boston strangler" ) and it is used with good results ,notably in the scene of the phone calls.

The action takes place in the sixties hippie times ,but OSS has still got the mind of a man of the fifties .Completely uneducated ,he substitutes a macho attitude and an obsolete moral ("he may be a Nazi,but he is still your father !honor thy father!") for his total incompetence.He may be stupid but he is not malicious when he asks his (female) colleague what the Jews have against the Nazis.It's not sure he knows what he is taking about when he replies " Ah !concentration camps!what a carry-on!" Jean Dujardin shines in this part of the dumb spy and the last scene about China with puns galore -which Sacha Guitry might have loved- may suggest a third episode in this country (Didn't they fight against the Americans in WW2?/ Those were the Japanese/I see ,the Japanese Chinese.)

OSS 117: Lost in Rio (2009)

Sequels being what they are, this is not quite a match to the original spoof from 2006. But when you have something almost as good as something really terrific, it's still enough. This is enough, for sure, even with the novelty of the situation worn thin.

The main reason is lead actor Jean Dujardin, who continues his parody with aplomb--all the same suave, self-effacing, sexist, racist, ridiculous mix. Instead of Muslims taking the brunt of the jokes, it's Israelis. But the impossibly short skirts and general parading to a male audience is still in place, for better or for worse. And lots of wonderful facial expressions and double-takes.

The rest of the production team is intact here: director, cinematographer, composer. The time period is something like 1968, a few years later than the "Nest of Spies" 2006 version, which is more 1963-ish. So there is an entertaining but less stylish move from "Mad Men" territory (the drinks, the music, the high style) into counterculture territory(most notably the hippie orgy stuff). The hilarious flashbacks of the first movie (on the beach) have been updated to a dramatic but unfunny circus act. And so on. Which is to say, this is a slightly different and slightly less movie.

But, it is still filled with fast, and ridiculous, and comic situations. The cars are great, and Rio is great (it seems to have been largely filmed there, or some impressive CGI stuff is at work). The campy final scenes at the big Jesus statue overlooking the city is purely a Hitchcock spoof (mostly "Suspicion" on the Statue of Liberty with a little "North by Northwest" at Mr. Rushmore). Oddly, this is a kind of parody of something so specific, a kind of post-modern reference, it distracts slightly from the more generic parody that makes up the whole. However, I have to quickly add that it's really well done, very visually astonishing.

So, see this movie if you've seen the first, by all means. If you have a choice (and currently both are streamable on Netflix), I'd start with the start, and then see if you're ready for more. And hang in there because it seems there almost has to be a third. Success is hard to repress.