Janis et John (2003) - film review

Insurance agent Pablo Sterni hits on a scheme to make easy money – by pocketing the premiums of low risk clients.  The scheme goes badly wrong when one such client makes a claim for half a million francs after his car is smashed up.  As chance would have it, Pablo’s distant cousin Léon has just inherited a million francs.  Léon lives alone, running a shop that deals exclusively in merchandise relating to John Lennon and Janis Joplin – the result of a chance encounter with the singers thirty years before.   Pablo’s only hope is to find a pair of Lennon and Joplin look-a-likes who can persuade Léon to part with his inheritance.  His wife Brigitte is at first reluctant to play the part of Joplin, but soon finds that the role offers her a new lease of life.  For the part of Lennon, Pablo engages an unemployed actor, Walter Kingkate.   Léon is completely taken in by the subterfuge – but things go badly wrong when both Brigitte and Walter start to take their roles a little too seriously…

Two popular music icons of the 1970s are brought back to life in this highly original comedy that ought to drive every follower of John Lennon and Janis Joplin on the planet into a frenzy of appreciation.  A decade that has been oft derided for its unusual (some would say blisteringly weird) artistic sense is currently undergoing a reappraisal and this film will probably give those who lived through the ’70s an unreal masochistic yearning for all manner of fashion horrors, including platform shoes and flared trousers, loud music and even louder costumes.  The nostalgia factor is only one part of the appeal of Janis et John, the first full length film from director Samuel Benchetrit.  It is a typically Gallic romp, a hugely entertaining film with a plethora of well-scripted gags.  It’s also quite a philosophical film, one that explores with some intelligence issues around identity, personal fulfilment and the need to communicate with others in a world where more and more people are becoming isolated.

If the film has one fault it is that it tries to cover far too much ground in too small a space.  There are so many characters, so many stories to be told, too little focus, and you’re left with the feeling that the film has only scratched the surface, that so much more has to be said.  To accommodate so many ideas, Benchetrit has had to resort to narrative shorthand in a few places, with the result that some of the characters fail to be convincing whilst others are stock stereotypes.  However, because the film is so off-the wall, because the jokes score so highly on the laugh-o-meter and because the cast includes so many great actors, all of whom give of their best, this hardly matters, and it certainly doesn’t detract much from the film’s entertainment value.

François Cluzet’s amazing portrayal of a third rate actor who becomes overtaken by the John Lennon persona is unnervingly convincing, disturbing and hilarious in equal measure.  Christopher Lambert is virtually unrecognisable as the Lennon/Joplin fanatic Léon, an effective and nuanced performance from an actor who is not known for playing such understated roles.  Sergi López is engaging and amusing as a man whose madcap schemes merely drag him deeper and deeper into the mire, whilst Jean-Louis Trintignant is excellent (no other word will suffice) and has far more impact than his comparatively minor role would suggest.

Then there is the extraordinary Marie Trintignant – to whom the film rightly belongs.  Her character’s transformation from withdrawn housewife to a stunning Janis Joplin revenant is like a flower coming into bloom – an effulgence of life and energy that says so much about the power of the human spirit to renew itself and brighten the world.  Tragically, within a few weeks of completing her work on this film the actress would be dead – the victim of a brutal domestic assault.   If it is nothing else, Janis et John is a final testimony to the talent and humanity of Marie Trintignant, one of France’s most remarkable, most highly respected actors.

© James Travers 2007

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