Le Bossu

Not a deep film in any sense but a magnificently entertaining one nevertheless. Witty and fast-paced, it bears comparison with the highly popular 'Taxi' films. Probably my favourite French film in terms of the sheer pleasure it has given me.

Set in the France of Louis XIV and the Regency which followed his death c.1699 - c.1720, it contains a fair degree of historical accuracy. Philippe d'Orleans, Regent of France (Philippe Noiret) has a central role as the arbiter of justice who ultimately allows good to triumph over evil. This is an unabashedly romantic view of absolutist France and one should not delve too deeply into the world that is recreated here. Like Robin Hood movies, the historical backcloth provides the setting for a good swashbuckle with an underdog hero eventually triumphing over a high-born villain against all the odds.

The later plot revolves around the Louisiana scheme which saw fortunes won and lost in an early example of stock market speculation - a French equivalent of the British South Sea Bubble.

It is also a buddy movie with the main hero (Daniel Auteuil) striking up a friendship across the class barrier with the Duc de Nevers who reveals the secret Nevers sword thrust, a leitmotif which starts and ends the film and helps the (19-year?) time span hang together.

Never's scheming cousin murders him in order to inherit his fortune and the film quickly turns into a revenge movie. Auteuil saves Nevers' baby girl and heir and plots to topple the villain and to restore her to her rightful place.

Towards the end the film becomes heavily romantic and reviewers have questioned the plausibility of the resulting relationship. It is perhaps the weakest part of the plot.

The catchy score helps the film to bowl along in a relatively light-hearted way. Despite a lot of villainy and murder, the film's main tenor is one of unremitting fun. Were it being acted out on stage it would almost be a farce. Simply wonderful!

France, 1699. The Duc of Nevers is a dashing nobleman who's cousin wishes him gone in order to inherit his fortune. His cousin, Count Gonzague pays hired swords to kill Nevers but they fail to do so, one of the men winning over the Duc and becoming his friend. When Nevers learns he has a child from an one night stand in Caylus, he sets off with Langardère to be married. However the marriage occurs but men attack the castle and Langardère is left to flee and protect the baby. He joins a group of players and hides for 20 years. However when the baby (now grown up as the beautiful Aurore) kills a man in the style known only to her father, Nevers, her presence is revealed and Langardère is forced to put things in motion for his revenge.

I have had this film sitting on a video tape for a month waiting for me to get some time to watch it. I am always put off by foreign films and often they will go to the bottom of things I have to watch simply due to the subtitles! I saw this today and thoroughly enjoyed it. The plot is quite simple although it sounds quite complex. The two acts are – I, Langardère and Nevers becoming friends before the deeds and II, Langardère returning to Paris 20 years later. The plot is helped to move along by the energetic playful feel to the film. It has it's tongue slightly in it's cheek but not so much as to make a mockery of the story. Instead it has just enough wit to stop it feeling historic or creaky.

It is not without flaws however, but they are minor when viewed alongside the grand sweep of the film. I, for one, didn't totally get behind the switch in the type of love between Langardère and Aurore – it was too easy after 20 years. Aside from this, the wit enables the film to get by with unlikely plot devices – if the subject had been presented drier then I may have had a problem with it.

The cast is led by some great performances, none more so than Auteuil. He is good both as the angry young man who befriends Nevers, the comical hero, the protective heroic father and the hunchback of the title. He has great fun in all roles and he is fun to watch. Perez is a bit of a cad and is enjoyable while onscreen and Luchini is a good villain made comical by his almost `middle manager' sense of insecurity and being second best all the time! Gillain as the adult Aurore is pretty and it is only her romance of Langardère that didn't work for me.

Overall this is a very enjoyable film. The plot is very traditional and well worn, but the film is really helped by it's energy and wit that helps everything flow that much easier and makes, along with good performances, for a very fun film to watch.

Alexandre Dumas made a reputation for himself writing stories chiefly about the uncommon man who had to rise to the occasion in extraordinary circumstances. Arguably, THE THREE MUSKETEERS and THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO stand as some of the best literature of the ages, and the film adaptations have created some of the most incredibly swordplay put to the silver screen.

The little heard of and rarely seen ON GUARD ("Le Bossu," 1997, from the French novel by Paul Feval of the same name), by far, features some of the most exciting swordplay with a story that compares to Dumas' best work in many ways.

Daniel Auteuil stars as Lagardere, a budding swordsman who can't back down from a fight. One evening, upon trying to best the Duke of Nevers, he inadvertently falls into the duke's good graces and joins him -- as a sidekick -- on a journey to rescue the man's infant daughter, Aurore. However, as the duke is soon murdered by his villainous cousin Count Gonzague (played with ample creepiness by Fabrice Luchini), Lagardere escapes with the infant and, along with the help of a traveling circus, raises her as his own child for sixteen years ... until Aurore takes up the sword and performs a move only her real father could've known, alerting the now-in-power Gonzague to the fact the the daughter has survived. Now, Legardere is faced with the ultimate challenge of devising a masterful plot to put the woman back on the throne and into her position of prominence!

Much of the film is pure plotting and humor, some of which can only be the product of the French ("Ever try sodomy, my friend?"), and I'm quite certain several of the jokes might be lost on an American audience. Still, Auteuil as Lagardere is the film's masterful stroke; he proves himself capable of a Musketeer-like defender, a loving father, and a pining lost soulmate to the lovely Aurore, all the while maintaining his sense of duty coupled with a great sense of humor.

The film is presented widescreen, filmed on beautiful locations, and the sound is very crisp and vibrant. ON GUARD is a wonderful adaptation that deserves to be discovered by a much larger audience.

Among the various adaptations of Paul Feval's novel the modernity of that one lies in the fight scenes.

On the other hand the 1959 version starring Jean Marais was less dark. The murder of Nevers was not emphasized whereas the part is much important with Vincent Perez's great performance. Fabrice Luchini and Daniel Auteuil also give the best to their characters, but the result is less flamboyant as they are more humane.

This can be seen as the result of the Nouvelle Vague fight against the 1950s French popular cinema.

I first mistook Daniel Auteuil for Gerard Depardieu. The French, it seems, have a predilection for unhandsome actors the likes of Yves Montand and Jean Paul Belmondo. But I am not complaining. I like them because they are so credible.

I highly recommend this movie if you liked Scaramouche, Cyrano de Bergerac, The Three Musketeers and other movies featuring dazzling rapier swordplay. The wonderful scenery, excellent choice of locations, intricate props and background really brings you back to France in the 1700s.

A nice American connection is made when the villain Gonzague is shown to be selling shareholdings in a land venture in Mississippi which at the time was still in French hands.

The armsmasters, fencing instructors and stuntmen did a wonderful job. The "Nevers attack," however, is dubious. A trained fencer can easily foil it.

Did you feel like giving the Duke of Nevers a scuff on the head for being so careless with his wealth and his life? But there are real people like that.

At times, the plot and dialog become maudlin perhaps as a sop to the ladies who would have to watch the movie with swordplay enthusiasts.