Micmacs (www.the-usher.com)

Bazil (Boon) has never really had a great life. His father was blown up by a mine he was trying to disarm while serving his country and his death led to his mother having a depressive breakdown meaning he was taken into care and placed into a Catholic orphanage, where he was treated very badly. As a man he loved black and white Hollywood classic and he job in the local video store game him the chance to watch them during the long night shift but his bad luck struck again when a gun fight ended with him been accidentally shot in the head. When he leaves hospital he discovers that his apartment have been rented to someone else and he has lost his job. Homeless, he makes a meager living as a street performer but his luck changes when he is taken in by a street ‘family’ agree to help Bazil bring down the men who have ruined his life, the CEOs of the arms companies that made the mine that killed his father and the bullet that is stuck in his brain.

When French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Jeunet makes a film, the whole of the film community and fans around the world take notice and the great news is that ‘Micmacs’ is a joy.

The man who brought us ‘Delicatessen’, ‘The City of Lost Children’, ‘A Very Long Engagement’ and the wonderful ‘Amelie’, as well as an unusual take on a science fiction legend with ‘Alien: Resurrection’, Jean-Pierre Jeunet is a writer and a director that has enlightened cinema. His latest, ‘Micmacs’ sees him return to the quirky humour of ‘Amelie’ to produce a revenge movie with a very different slant on the usual caper film.

His lead character, Bazil, is a man who has never had any luck. A childhood riddled with sadness saw him escape into his beloved movies but as an adult his luck continues to be completely awful, leading to him been accidently shot in the head and then subsequently losing his home and his job and been then forced to live on the streets. His life changes when he meets a group of homeless people who life their lives collecting scrap metal and junk from the streets of Paris. Adopted into the family, he quickly makes friends but his bad luck surfaces again when he discovers that the companies that manufactured the weapon that ruined his childhood and the bullet that is now stuck in his brain are based in Paris there is nothing he can do to get revenge. That is what he though but with his friends with him, Bazil’s elaborate plan to get revenge might just work.

This is a mixture of farce, caper and some fantastic physical comedy from the wonderful Dany Boon as Bazil make Jeunet’s ‘Micmacs’ a joy to watch. It is the strange family that makes the movie all the more watchable. Michel Cremades is Petit Pierre (Tiny Pete), an unbelievably strong but very small man who can make anything from scrap. Marie-Julie Baup is Calculette (Calcalator), a girl who can calculate anything instantly just by looking at it. Omar Sy is Remington, an overly confident writer who writes about everything. Dominique Pinon is Fracasse (Buster), a human cannonball expert who longs to get the world distance record back and Julie Ferrier as La Mome Caoutchouc (Elastic Girl), a contortionist who can conveniently fit into a box. It is when all of them combine to take on Andre Dussollier’s Nicolas Thibault de Fenouillet and Nicolas Marie’s François Marconi, the two French weapons manufacturers who made the mine and the bullet that have caused Bazil so much heartache, that the movie really becomes a joy to watch.

With many a laugh-out-loud moment, some fantastically quirky characters and a story that will have you enthralled throughout, ‘Micmacs’ is a joy to watch. While it might not have the same artistic and cinematic flair as some of Jeunet’s earlier work but this is still a must watch for all his fans and anyone who just loves a good comedy-adventure movie.

Interview with Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet

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2010