Toto le héros (1991) - film review

In a retirement home, old Thomas looks back on his life, a life marred by hatred for one man: Alfred.  As a boy, Thomas was convinced that he and Alfred, his next-door neighbour, were switched at birth.  In spite of his close, loving family, Thomas resents the fact that Alfred is the son of a rich entrepreneur.  When his father is killed in an aeroplane crash, the young Thomas imagines himself as Toto, a gun-toting superhero who will take his revenge out on Alfred.  Reality is less kind: Thomas grows up and finds himself trapped in a life of mediocrity and disappointment, whilst he sees Alfred lead a full and prosperous life.   As he approaches death, Thomas has just one wish: to claim back the life that Alfred stole from him...

Toto le héros marks a spectacular cinematic debut for Belgian film director (and one-time professional circus clown) Jaco van Dormael.  With a mind-blowing frenzy of artistic flair and creative vision, this is a film which breathes new life into the cinematic form, whilst offering a startlingly original reflection on life and obsession.  A film which, like much of  Dormael’s output, defies classification, Toto le héros manages to be both hilariously funny and yet intensely poignant, often at precisely the same moment.  For a film which has such a complex, elliptical narrative structure (relying heavily on flashbacks intertwined with fantasy sequences), it is a remarkably lucid and engrossing film.  Intelligent, well-crafted and crammed full of detail, Toto le héros ought to appear dauntingly complicated, but it doesn’t.  Instead, it seems to have a child-like simplicity which makes it nothing less than a hugely effective visual poem.

This is one of those magical films which affords a totally new cinematic experience whilst, at the same time, being both entertaining and insightful.  Given its subject matter, the film should be overwhelmingly depressing, and in the hands of most other directors it would have made a very harrowing tragic drama.  Yet Toto le héros is anything but depressing: it is as uplifting as the happiest Hollywood musical and sometimes just as funny as the best Ealing comedy.  It achieves this not by ridiculing its subject (which would have been the easiest way to lighten it – by turning it into cheap farce), but by some other route which all but defies analysis.  The film is witty without being silly; moving not sentimental; melancholic instead of cynical or bitter.  With its tirelessly sunny cinematography, assisted by Charles Trenet’s equally sunny 1930s number Boum, the film shows us how much we have to be grateful for -  even if our lives do at times resemble a sombre Luc Besson adaptation of a Shakespearean tragedy.  The film acknowledges the absurdity, the brevity and sheer pointlessness of life, but also reminds us of its magic, its wonder and gaiety -  in short, the little miracle we all take for granted.

Whilst it is easy to be almost completely overwhelmed by the film’s unusual visual content, it is still possible to appreciate the high-calibre of acting which it also offers.  In particular, Michel Bouquet gives one of his most memorable screen performances in the role of the embittered old Thomas, whilst the younger members of the cast distinguish themselves with some naturalistic and often very moving contributions.  Pascal Duquenne, who plays Thomas’ disabled brother, would take a leading role in Dormael’s subsequent film, Le Huitième jour (1996).  The film won the Caméra d’or prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1991.  Not surprisingly, Toto le héros retains a large cult following and is one of the most successful and popular of films to have been made in Belgium.

© James Travers 2003

Write a review for this film...

What do you think of this film?