Film Review
It has long been acknowledged that Patrice Leconte is one of France's
most eclectic filmmakers, as adept at turning out mainstream comedies
such as
Les Bronzés (1978) as
more serious auteur dramas like
La Veuve de Saint-Pierre (2000)
and
L'Homme du train (2002).
Now, at the tender age of 64, Leconte makes another unexpected detour
with his first animated feature. (The detour is less surprising
when you recall that Leconte spent five years as an artist on the
magazine
Pilote in the early
1970s). Adapted from a popular novel by Jean Teulé,
Le Magasin des suicides is a morbid
comedic fantasy which allows Leconte plenty of opportunity to indulge
his penchant for dark humour. Set in a world of interminable
post-apocalyptic gloom, where everyone has long since lost the will to live and
suicide has become the most popular pastime, no other film has come
closer to matching the prevailing mood in France at the present
time. Indeed, a visitor to France today could almost mistake this
for a documentary...
A great admirer of the films of Tim Burton, Leconte admits to having
been partially influenced by the American director's comicbook-style
Gothic fantasies. Another obvious influence is the Stephen
Sondheim musical
Sweeney Todd,
apparent in the numerous macabre musical numbers that are inelegantly
crowbarred into the film. Dissatisfied with the pessimistic
ending to Tuelé's novel, Leconte serves up a far more upbeat
conclusion, but does so with such an outpouring of tacky sentimentality
that he pretty well destroys the film's integrity. You can't help
wondering who the film is targeted at. Obviously a film in which
violent self-inficted death features so prominently cannot be aimed at
children; and yet the film is too timid and unsophisticated to be of
much interest to an adult audience. That just leaves the teen
market, but surely most of today's teenagers are too busy killing
things on their Play Stations to have the time for this kind of addled
fantasy?
Technically at least,
Le Magasin des
suicides is an impressive piece, its 2D art work of a comparable
quality to that seen in Sylvain Chomet's excellent
Triplettes de Belleville (2003).
However, whereas the characters in Chomet's film are well developed and
take on a personality of their own, those in Leconte's film are shallow
caricatures that struggle to break out of their two-dimensional
universe. Leconte's film also has far less tonal variation than
Chomet's and soon becomes monotonous and repetitive, something that is
only aggravated by the abundance of musical numbers which end up
sounding like muzak. The twisted black comedy helps to carry the
film through but it is surprising that such an experienced filmmaker as
Leconte should fail to give it more depth and character. Unsure
what age group he is aiming the film at and not having the courage to
stick with Jean Teulé's original concept, Leconte delivers a
stylish curiosity piece that is moderately entertaining but a crushing
disappointment for his admirers.
© James Travers 2012
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Patrice Leconte film:
A Promise (2014)
Film Synopsis
There once was a town so mired in misery that everyone who lived there
no longer had the will to go on living. In this gloomy
metropolis, the only business that thrives is a little shop which
specialises in suicide. The shop is run by Mishima and Lucrezia
Tuvache, whose offspring Vincent and Marilyn do their best to talk
their customers into hastening their demise. Far better to do
away with yourself in the comfort of your own home, with a sturdy rope
or a strong poison, than to create a public nuisance by jumping out of
an upstairs window. Life for the Tuvaches has never been so
good. This was before Alan, the latest addition to the family,
came along. No matter what his parents do to him, baby Alan
cannot help lifting the spirits of anyone who sees
him...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.