Mammuth

If another user is right and the bike Depardieu is riding in this movie (a Mammuth) is worth a lot of money, you should start wondering what he is on about. But then again, I don't think it matters that much, because it is about a system and its flaws. And while it mixes funny situations with very serious matters, it does not get the combination of them both does not always work in favor of the movie.

Still Depardieu tries hard and there are quite a few good scenes, with very good points. Like when Depardieus character tries to "communicate" with a service over a phone. The pacing seemed to be a problem too (all over the place). But then again, there are a lot of people who liked it as it is. It kind of reminded me of the movie "Broken Flowers". Though I think this one is (a little bit) better

Strange and beautiful road movie, and for me that was best role of GD ever. It reminds me about Amelie with it's French beautiful romantic and absurd humor, while grainy filming, "real life" attitude, and Depardieu with long hair remind me of The Wrestler with Mickey Rourke.

If you can imagine how two of them would feel combined, I think you would get this movie as a result.

There was absolutely no weak acting here.

Recommended for people who liked movies like "Pierrot le fou", "Bernie", or anyone who wants to discover french humor - a bit dark, sad, cynical, but still romantic at the same time.

This movie is a road movie in the France of small people, done by an atypical guy on an atypical bike (would you figure that the antique Munch Mammuth that Gérard Depardieu is shown riding is priced around $100.000?)

As Depardieu is making his trip to the places where he used to live and work, so that he can get the paperwork he needs to retire, we meet a number of comic situations, that often reveal the absurdity of our modern world (see the scene where Yolande Moreau fights against an automated voice phone service). Miss Ming character also gives us some nice touches of craziness.

Besides the comic situations, there is a more serious tone. The movie shows us the rigidity of the retirement system, from which a number of people are excluded, as they are anyway excluded from the whole economical system. A few moments in the movie also make us feel how getting old can be a wrecking for these people.

So there is both fun and sensibility there, and Gérard Depardieu is good at conveying both. This is his best role for a great while and it proves that he stills has something to give.

Lets just concentrate on one small matter The knowingness of the filmmakers is apparent with there choice of bike. At the time Serge would have been a biker this would have been an aspiration for a European working man that was possible of fulfilment. In his comatose state the world moved on and his icon becomes a forgotten relic as many of the Mammuths did. Out of touch he would be unaware that the bike has now become a cult and consequently recently accrued great value. I have also had my Sidcup moments and in a sort of way also been redeemed by art so I understand that sector of the film, although perhaps in this film is slightly unbalances the structure And then Yolande Moreau can make shaving an armpits so moving that I cried.

Mammuth comedy movie has a very good idea, but unfortunately it cannot expand this idea well. A trip to the past is a return to oneself, and the result of this trip is to find a renewed passion for life. Gerard Depardieu is a powerful actor. The movie is trying to be realistic and the excessive use of camera on hand is for this reason, but the camera movements in camera on hand shots are sometimes not well designed. Although the film tries to have a realistic structure, the shots in which Mammuth remembers his girlfriend overshadows this realism. The film received attention at the Berlin Film Festival.