Bimboland (1998)

Bimboland is a French film comedy first released in 1998, directed by Ariel Zeitoun.  The film stars Judith Godrèche, Aure Atika, Gérard Depardieu, Sophie Forte and Armelle.  Our overall rating for this film is: mediocre.


Ethnology student Cécile Bussy believes she has discovered a tribe in the Amazonian rain forest which has been completely untouched by civilisation.  When it turns out that the tribe has in fact been civilised, Cécile has to look elsewhere for the subject of her thesis.  She then meets Alex, a young woman who is her polar opposite – sexy but dim, the archetypal bimbo.  Cécile at last has an idea for her thesis – she intends to make a detailed study of bimbos.   So that she can experience first hand the world of the bimbo, she must herself undergo a transformation – from an emotionally suppressed intellectual into a ravishing laid back blonde.  An unexpected consequence of Cécile’s research is that the head of her faculty, Laurent Gaspard, falls in love – not with her, but with her bimbo alter ego…

Whilst its raison d’être is primarily to entertain, Bimboland is a film that does broach some serious issues – particularly about society’s out-dated attitudes towards women (to succeed in life, a woman must be both intelligent and an object of desire, whereas neither attribute seems to be required of the male sex).  Unfortunately, the film has so many defects – mainly in the script and direction departments - that it fails to make any real positive impact.  If anything, the film helps to reinforce the crude stereotypical images of women, instead of getting us to reflect on our attitudes and change the way we regard women in what is still, regrettably, a male dominated world.  With the exception of Judith Godrèche, who visibly struggles to make her character convincing (and almost succeeds), every other member of the cast appears to have no idea what the film is about and some – Dany Boon in particular – look as if they are in totally the wrong profession.  There are some entertaining moments in the film, but the characterisation and plot are so ramshackle that, in the end, it just becomes too painful to watch without the anaesthetising influence of a strong alcohol beverage.


© James Travers 2007

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