Friday November 17, 2006 SGN.org |
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Volume 34 Issue 46 |
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Saturday, Aug 30, 2008
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Fanfan La Tulipe: A 1952 French comic anit-war gem that still shines |
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| Fanfan La Tulipe: A 1952 French comic anit-war gem that still shines | ||
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by Derich Mantonela -
SGN A&E Writer Opening Friday at the Varsity (one week only) Bravo to Rialto Pictures for bringing us another fresh-print revival of a French masterpiece, "Fanfan La Tulipe." Christian-Jaque's 1952 cheerfully upbeat, ironical anti-war swashbuckling mock-epic starring two of filmdom's legendary most beautiful people, Gina Lollobrigida and Gerard Philipe. Disguised by all the stereotypically superficial hi-jinks of Eighteenth Century French court intrigue, battlefield maneuvers and horse chases and sword fights, romantic heroism and overheated bodice-ripping, here is a flawless gem of a period film, crisply paced and written, with endearing, larger than life performances, ahead-of-its-time action choreography, masterful black and white photography (Christian Matras), set to an upbeat tempo which counterpoints a nostalgically bittersweet undertone. A film which may be enjoyed as a trifling confection and/or as a masterpiece of its genre. Lollogbrigida, 25-years-old at the time of the film's release, was on the verge of international superstardom (the very next year saw her in John Huston's "Beat The Devil" with Humphrey Bogart). In "Fanfan" she plays a gypsy temptress who tricks the devilishly carefree, almost-too-good-looking Philippe (the French Errol Flynn of his generation) into signing himself into the French Army and into a pointless, bloody conflict before he gains favor with the Court by rescuing Madame Pompadour from highwaymen, then blowing it by getting himself in trouble again, before a series of monumentally unlikely events leads to a fairy tale ending. "Fanfan" features some of the great French actors of the mid-Twentieth Century and its production staff is equally brilliant. Such teamwork and care in the craft of filmmaking have rarely been equaled since. Writer/director Christian-Jaque, deserving of a revival of his own for his long career (he died in 1994 at age 90), was at his artistic peak in the 1940s, with some of his best work completed during the Nazi occupation. "Fanfan" was a big commercial success, leading to several more swashbuckler-type knockoffs, now generally considered harmless potboilers. But how could he possibly have improved upon "Fanfan," a perfect film of its kind? |
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