Summary
When a secret agent is eaten by a shark in a telephone box, ace spy Bob Saint-Clair is
sent on a mission to Mexico, to confront his arch-enemy Karpof, assisted by his beautiful
partner Tatiana… Thus begins the latest pulp fiction novel by François Merlin,
a lonely middle-aged writer who dreams of having a love affair with his neighbour Christine
and of getting his revenge on his odious publisher Charron - fantasies which he plays
out in his novels. One day, Christine borrows some of Merlin’s books and becomes
obsessed with his fiction, finding plenty of material for her sociology thesis.
Believing that she prefers his fictional hero to him, Merlin decides to destroy his fictional
alter-ego Bob Saint-Clair...
Review
Very redolent of the era in which it was made, Le Magnifique is an ebullient mix
of the truly bizarre and original which gives it a rare timeless quality. It is
a hugely entertaining film to watch, and re-watch, filled with some outrageous but very
effective comedy.
Although the film starts out resembling a spoof of the action/spy thriller - in fact,
a spoof of a spoof, since it is so far over the top - it soon develops into something
much more laudable. Le Magnifique turns out, rather surprisingly, to be the
portrait of a lonely and bitter writer, who vents his frustration by placing himself in
a fictional world where he is the world’s most desirable secret agent. Charismatic
and popular actor Jean-Paul Belmondo stars as both writer and secret agent, being one
of a small number of actors who is capable of playing both types to their absolute limits
whilst remaining convincing in both roles. The main pleasure in watching Le
Magnifique is Jean-Paul Belmondo’s unashamedly and magnificently unrestrained performance.
Whilst its plot may sound rather simplistic, the film does manage to hold together rather
well, in spite of - or perhaps because of - its camp excesses. De Broca’s instinctive
flair for film making, particularly his experience with what works and what does not in
a film like this, is also another important reason why the film stands up so well.
In the hands of a lesser director, Le Magnifique would most probably have ended
up like the unwatchable mess that the 1967 film Casino
Royale became.
Even so, the film shows de Broca taking some big gambles, particularly with the portrayal
of excessive physical violence. The film managed to use up more theatrical blood
and dummy ammunitions than a dozen or so typical action war films, and one scene required
an entire set to be flooded with several hundred litres of pigs’ blood. It sounds
dangerously close to the extreme video nasty sub-genre of the early 1980s, and you do
wonder what the censors made of the film at the time. De Broca probably got away
with it because all this awful gory nastiness is presented in such a stylised, comic-book
like way that it appears as harmless as Tintin or Astérix.
These excesses may have been a contributing factor in Francis Veber’s decision to dissociate
himself from the film. Once he had seen the final print of the film, he insisted
that his name be removed from the credits. As a result, Le Magnifique is
one of the very few French films not to show the name of its writer. Not that this
matters - anyone who is familiar with Veber’s brand of comedy will instantly recognise
him as the film’s writer.
Despite Veber’s reservations, Le Magnifique proved to be a commercial success,
attracting 2.8 million spectators in France alone, making it one of the most popular films
of 1973. The film also fared well abroad, thanks in part to the mix of international
actors, which included the rising Hollywood actress Jacqueline Bisset (who had become
an international star after her appearance in Truffaut’s La
Nuit américaine) and the popular Italian comic actor Vittorio Caprioli.
© James Travers 2002
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