Starring: Vincent Perez, Penélope Cruz, Didier Bourdon, Hélène De Fougerolles Original Title: Fanfan la Tulipe Running Time: 1:35 Country: France Year: 2003 Web: Official Site
To escape marriage, Fanfan (Vincent Pérez), a womanizer, joins Louis XV's army, foils a plot and finds love with Adeline (Pénélope Cruz), a fortuneteller thirsty for freedom.
A remake of a Christian-Jaque film shot in 1952, this Fanfan la Tulipe, from the Luc Besson stable, has neither the epic dimension, nor the panache of the original version, even though the "Besson method", flanked by long-time drudge Gerard Krawczyk, has proven to be durable, as the unbearable Taxi series can attest.
The production shamelessly aims by all the means to attract a mainstream audience: action scenes are duplicated AD nauseam and rhythm is sustained while a renowned international actress is used as the straight man (Shu Qi in the Transporter, Penelope Cruz here.)
All the ingredients have been assembled to make a blockbuster but despite the winning recipe, the film proves to be insipid.
Starting with performances, Pérez sports a bewitching smile but somewhat lacks charisma, just like Penelope Cruz, confined to the role of the beautiful girl. And that's also where one of the main flaws of this remake lies: it doesn't include any element of modernity in writing the female character. In the end, Adeline gets married to a womanizer who has converted to love. What progress! In addition, the actress isn't a real match for Gina Lollobridgida, lacking her incandescence and carnal presence.
As for the action sequences on which the creators have bet, they are anti-spectacular. While the director can be commended for avoiding special effects and cascades in the vein of The Matrix as a last resort, the film falls flat except for its climax. The rather lazy script doesn't bring much either.
Schoolkid humour, a Besson trademark (!), is present. Most of the time, the lines of dialogue are dull but what is most shocking is the indecent homage to late French filmmaker Maurice Pialat. In one scene, the unmasked traitor claims "si vous ne m'aimez pas, moi non plus je ne vous aime pas" (If you don't like me, I don't like you either) which is an emblematic phrase from Pialat. Well, we definitely don't love you either Mr. Besson & Co.
Fanfan la Tulipe review
