6 reviews
Absolutely hilarious, a must see for those who liked "c'est arrive près de chez vous" (Man bites dog), even though I still rank it a tone under, Bernie is a very funny, dark and absurd movie just like Albert Dupontel always makes..... Do not rent it if you are easily shocked, because the jokes tend to go quite far...
This movie takes a melodrama plot,gives it a black humor cum non politically correct lines treatment,then pushes it to absolute limits:actually,one thinks of what Etienne Chatiliez could have done after "la vie est un long fleuve tranquille",hadn't he taken refuge in harmless comedies.Hélène Vincent's presence (the bourgeois woman in Chatiliez's debut) accentuates this feeling.
"Bernie" came aside as a shock, in the humdrum field of contemporary French cinema.IMHO,it's better than "pulp fiction" because the director took a lot more chances than Tarentino:no stars,shoestring budget,and a "nasty" spirit everywhere.Bernie ,a thirty years old orphan,leaves the orphanage for "life outside".This is the beginning of a wholesale massacre in which nobody will escape.It leaves nobody unscathed:neither Mickey or Donald ,nor the birds or the dogs;neither the rich,nor the poor;neither the parents,nor the children;neither the video stuff clerks,nor the florists;neither the junkies nor the dealers;neither the garbage/rubbish chutes,nor the transformers...
The last fifteen minutes with the hostage-taking are more conventional,but the director manages to concoct an almost dreamlike conclusion,in direct contrast to the rest of the story.
A story of paranoia ,a story of madness,of absurd logic,"Bernie" is all this and more.Bernie feels the society he discovers is dangerous:THEY come to bring you down,to kill you ,to throw you in the garbage chute;the enemy is definitely the OTHERS,so he launches a pre-emptive strike,by shooting everybody in sight,eating the Tweety Pies,closing the garbage chutes with sticky paper.His dream is to live in a safe world,with the parents he's found again (you should see the parents:the father,Donald ,a tramp,the mother,a prole turned bourgeois ,who called her son Mickey (sic))
No one will be immune to this aggressive Voltaire's "Candide" ,Bernie (aka "John Fitzgerald" aka "Mickey").
"Bernie" came aside as a shock, in the humdrum field of contemporary French cinema.IMHO,it's better than "pulp fiction" because the director took a lot more chances than Tarentino:no stars,shoestring budget,and a "nasty" spirit everywhere.Bernie ,a thirty years old orphan,leaves the orphanage for "life outside".This is the beginning of a wholesale massacre in which nobody will escape.It leaves nobody unscathed:neither Mickey or Donald ,nor the birds or the dogs;neither the rich,nor the poor;neither the parents,nor the children;neither the video stuff clerks,nor the florists;neither the junkies nor the dealers;neither the garbage/rubbish chutes,nor the transformers...
The last fifteen minutes with the hostage-taking are more conventional,but the director manages to concoct an almost dreamlike conclusion,in direct contrast to the rest of the story.
A story of paranoia ,a story of madness,of absurd logic,"Bernie" is all this and more.Bernie feels the society he discovers is dangerous:THEY come to bring you down,to kill you ,to throw you in the garbage chute;the enemy is definitely the OTHERS,so he launches a pre-emptive strike,by shooting everybody in sight,eating the Tweety Pies,closing the garbage chutes with sticky paper.His dream is to live in a safe world,with the parents he's found again (you should see the parents:the father,Donald ,a tramp,the mother,a prole turned bourgeois ,who called her son Mickey (sic))
No one will be immune to this aggressive Voltaire's "Candide" ,Bernie (aka "John Fitzgerald" aka "Mickey").
- dbdumonteil
- Jun 15, 2002
- Permalink
French cinema is a weird thing. And this is a movie that fully gives that weird french vibe that you may or may not be looking for. I search it out like a fox, so I'm glad I got to see Bernie.
The story of a slightly retarded man, who is now venturing out of the orphanage which he's called home for his entire life. With money he's saved up and a quest to find his parents....he's pretty much on a collision course with disaster. And that's just your impression. Bernie eventually does meet his parents and things quickly get out of control. Seriously out of control.
Bernie is a bizarre film. It has loads of dark humor, with a really interesting and kinda realistic idea. I know of a couple handicapped guys who've gone out to live on their own. But those dudes weren't as "out there" as our pal, Bernie. Wreckless driving, extreme violence are two things Bernie brings to the outside world with him. Which is humorous, but at the same time, questionable. Basic life lessons are to have good morals, and a major one is to be kind. Ya know, violence is a bad thing. I guess he just never learned that. Or I missed something.
Nevertheless, Bernie is a one-of-a-kind flick that some people have said is even better than Pulp Fiction.....not sure where that relation comes from. Were they made the same year? Anyways, it is a strong film like PFiction, and it's pretty entertaining, but it also feels like it's trying too hard in a way. Also I didn't really care for the characters, even Bernie. I would have loved to actually care for Bernie on an emotional level, but alas, I didn't. But for anyone who enjoys dark comedy, Bernie should be on your to-see list.
The story of a slightly retarded man, who is now venturing out of the orphanage which he's called home for his entire life. With money he's saved up and a quest to find his parents....he's pretty much on a collision course with disaster. And that's just your impression. Bernie eventually does meet his parents and things quickly get out of control. Seriously out of control.
Bernie is a bizarre film. It has loads of dark humor, with a really interesting and kinda realistic idea. I know of a couple handicapped guys who've gone out to live on their own. But those dudes weren't as "out there" as our pal, Bernie. Wreckless driving, extreme violence are two things Bernie brings to the outside world with him. Which is humorous, but at the same time, questionable. Basic life lessons are to have good morals, and a major one is to be kind. Ya know, violence is a bad thing. I guess he just never learned that. Or I missed something.
Nevertheless, Bernie is a one-of-a-kind flick that some people have said is even better than Pulp Fiction.....not sure where that relation comes from. Were they made the same year? Anyways, it is a strong film like PFiction, and it's pretty entertaining, but it also feels like it's trying too hard in a way. Also I didn't really care for the characters, even Bernie. I would have loved to actually care for Bernie on an emotional level, but alas, I didn't. But for anyone who enjoys dark comedy, Bernie should be on your to-see list.
- ElijahCSkuggs
- Sep 5, 2008
- Permalink
The directorial debut from Albert Dupontel, 'Bernie' is not a film for the faint of heart. It is a brutal, relentless, and often grotesque work of French black comedy that feels less like a film and more like a fever dream. From the moment we meet Bernie Noël, a man-child with mental difficulties released from an orphanage who believes his parents were killed in a government conspiracy, the film plunges the viewer into a surreal and chaotic world. Dupontel, who also stars as the titular character, crafts a narrative that is both darkly disturbing and deeply unsettling, using its shocking moments not for gratuitous effect, but as blunt instruments to dissect the absurdities of society.
The film's satiric engine runs on pure, unadulterated shock value. Bernie's journey to find his parents is a series of escalating misadventures where his warped logic and violent impulses collide with the seemingly "normal" world. This is where the film's social commentary truly shines. The extreme actions, bizarre situations, and violence, while horrifying, are often a warped response to the callousness and indifference Bernie (along with his father later on) perceives around him, from uncaring social workers, indifferent people, and unresponsive partners. The film suggests that the line between sanity and madness is thin, and that in a truly absurd world, Bernie's actions, however extreme, are not so unhinged and criminal.
Ultimately, Bernie is a film that you either love or hate, and it's a difficult one to recommend without a strong warning. It's an acquired taste, a cinematic punch in the gut that leaves you reeling long after the credits have rolled. For those willing to stomach its unpolished, raw aesthetic and its provocative themes, it is a brilliant and fearless piece of filmmaking. Dupontel's genius lies in his ability to use the film's shocking content like the raw violence and the disturbing events as a grotesque form of social commentary, exposing the ugliness lurking just beneath the façade of polite and respectable society (as represented by the mother's family). Bernie isn't just a satiric film; it's a defiant statement, a cinematic Molotov cocktail thrown directly at the face of convention.
The film's satiric engine runs on pure, unadulterated shock value. Bernie's journey to find his parents is a series of escalating misadventures where his warped logic and violent impulses collide with the seemingly "normal" world. This is where the film's social commentary truly shines. The extreme actions, bizarre situations, and violence, while horrifying, are often a warped response to the callousness and indifference Bernie (along with his father later on) perceives around him, from uncaring social workers, indifferent people, and unresponsive partners. The film suggests that the line between sanity and madness is thin, and that in a truly absurd world, Bernie's actions, however extreme, are not so unhinged and criminal.
Ultimately, Bernie is a film that you either love or hate, and it's a difficult one to recommend without a strong warning. It's an acquired taste, a cinematic punch in the gut that leaves you reeling long after the credits have rolled. For those willing to stomach its unpolished, raw aesthetic and its provocative themes, it is a brilliant and fearless piece of filmmaking. Dupontel's genius lies in his ability to use the film's shocking content like the raw violence and the disturbing events as a grotesque form of social commentary, exposing the ugliness lurking just beneath the façade of polite and respectable society (as represented by the mother's family). Bernie isn't just a satiric film; it's a defiant statement, a cinematic Molotov cocktail thrown directly at the face of convention.
- carmelolia
- Aug 31, 2025
- Permalink
A young first time film maker who plays in his flick. Guns and guts splashed all over. Some very outrageous moments. Wacky characters and outrageous situations. Bound to make you laugh with unease and faint any lady in the tv room. This is unreal given you get rid of expectations and give it room to be outrageous. This guy has a great career before him. Remember his name and watch it here years from now.
Early work of vocation of filmaking for Albert Dupontel, Bernie is a movie made with a similar kind of sordid humour shows in TV one-man shows and "Les Sales Histoires". The movie hold the specator in suspense to know how the offset main character who lived all his life in orphanage, are going to go with townfolks to discover his real family.
- simonlive-56691
- Mar 16, 2018
- Permalink