Tuesday 12 December 2023

ÇA RETOURNE! (PHILIPPE LOMBARD, ÉDITIONS LA TENGO)

Film and TV specialist Philippe Lombard wrote books on The Persuaders, Starsky and Hutch, The Pink Panther, OSS 117, Tintin, Michel Audiard, Louis de Funès, Quentin Tarantino and many more. In Ça retourne!, published by Éditions La Tengo, he achieves the impossible: to take his readers on an exciting journey through the eternal repetition of cinema history.

After Ça tourne mal!, Ça tourne mal... à Hollywood!, Ça c'est tourné près de chez vous! and Ça tourne mal... à la télé!, a tetralogy about behind the scenes of cinema and television under a thematic angle, Philippe Lombard explores several decades of movie sequels, remakes and sagas in a "spin-off" astutely titled Ça retourne!. After all, the author writes in his foreword that he owes some of his first emotions as a moviegoer to film series. Remaking films first came as an industrial necessity right from the creation of cinema. Then, movie audiences were invited to come back quickly in the theaters with the invention of serials (The Purple Mask, Les Vampires, The Masked Rider...) and the arrival of recurring characters such as Maciste, "The Tramp" played by Charlie Chaplin, or Zorro.
 
From the 1930s, Universal gave sequels to Dracula, Frankenstein and its other monsters. The Invisible Man, Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan and even Lassie took part in the Second World War. Film series and remakes continued to prosper throughout the 20th century to the present day, where superheroes and Disney's live-action treatment of their animated classics epitomize the trend. In a chapter about directors and remakes, Philippe Lombard examines the filmographies of Marcel Pagnol, Akira Kurosawa, Quentin Tarantino (for his influences), Frank Capra, Alfred Hitchcock, etc. "Franchises" can exceed their sell-by date, like Dracula (with Christopher Lee), The Pink Panther (with or without Peter Sellers), Emmanuelle (with two "m" or just one), Death Wish or Freddy.
 
In France, Jean-Luc Godard "destroyed" the Lemmy Caution movies with Alphaville (1965) (1). La cage aux folles triumphed on the Parisian stage in 1973 before becoming three movies co-produced with Italy between 1978 and 1985 and an American version (The Birdcage, 1996). The U.S. love to remake French movies, see The Woman in Red in 1984 (Un éléphant, ça trompe énormément, 1976) or Three Men and a Baby in 1987 (Trois hommes et un couffin, 1985). Sometimes, imitation is discussed in court (The Last Shark, Running Man, Lock Out). Philippe Lombard also looks at the "Turksploitation" phenomenon and the curious case of the fake Terence Hill and Bud Spencer. Ça retourne! concludes with the evocation of Raiders!, a fan film based on Raiders of the Lost Ark.
 
As always with a book by Philippe Lombard,  Ça retourne! is well researched, smartly thought, pleasantly written and tremendously interesting. French illustrator and graphic artist Mr Choubi (real name Patrick Chevalier) is behind the astounding artistic design of the book. Philippe Lombard is a regular collaborator for the magazine Schnock and other publications.
 
(1) Seven French films (1952-1963) based on the novels written by Peter Cheyney. Directed by Bernard Borderie, they starred American actor Eddie Constantine as Lemmy Caution. He reprised the role for Alphaville.
 
See also: 
 

Thursday 30 November 2023

PANDA - SEASON 1, EPISODES 1 & 2: RETOUR DE KARMA & POLY-KILLER (TF1)

[Spoiler-free review] A stressed police captain teams up with a chilled-out  former cop in Panda. Singer, songwriter, musician and actor Julien Doré (1) and Ophélia Kolb (Tapie, Dix pour cent) star in this brilliant 6 x 52-minute French crime-comedy series which premieres tonight on TF1.

The bottom line: HPI in paradise.

Julien Doré is Victor "Panda" Pandaloni, a laidback pacifist and a vegan who's resistant to technology or even cars and likes to have his 15 hours of sleep in his hammock. He runs a small beach bar called Le Flamant Zen in a remote corner of the region of Camargue and raises his adopted teenager son. Panda's quiet life is disturbed when a young man named Léo Legendre asks for his help because he's chased by Captain Lola Vosquian (2) of the Brigade criminelle (Ophélia Kolb). Lola arrests them but Commissaire Messina informs her that Victor Pandaloni was once a gifted cop before he mysteriously left the service and vanished.

Stan, a young officer who's Lieutenant Pandaloni's #1 fan, welcomes back his hero. Panda doesn't share his enthusiasm, as he learns that he's still a member of the police force because he didn't officially resigned and Messina just put his friend on indefinite leave. The commissaire explains that Léo Legendre is suspected of the murder of a young woman found dead near him when he was unconscious on the yacht of a real estate entrepreneur. Panda thinks that Léo is innocent and he cannot resist to start his own investigation, though he remains haunted by the reason he left the police station. Soon, Panda and Lola reluctantly join forces. 

Created by Thomas Mansuy (Les Rivières pourpres, Les petits meurtres d'Agatha Christie) and Mathieu Legrand (Les Rivières pourpres, Astrid et Raphaëlle), Panda is based on an original idea by Simon McNabb for Dutch, a series project developed by Sphere Media. The episodes were penned by Thomas Mansuy, Mathieu Legrand, Bastien Dartois, Joseph Lantigny (Astrid et Raphaëlle) and Agathe Robilliard (Candice Renoir). Panda is a most impressive addition to the fiction line-up of TF1. Its style is reminiscent of HPI (the channel's ratings juggernaut since 2021) in an ambience pleasantly similar to Death in Paradise.  Julien Doré looks comfortable in his first important role (3) and his on-screen chemistry with the talented Ophélia Kolb is perfect. 

Actor, director and scriptwriter Gustave Kervern is excellent as Messina. Like Hélène Vincent, who plays Panda's friend and confidante Thérèse. Singer, YouTuber and actor Maxence Lapérouse is Stan, a character who could be a cousin of Gilles from HPI. The dialogues are amazing and the plots are well-crafted. After she's paired with Stan, Lola begs Messina to work with Panda on the case of a man murdered in the workshop of a painter practising polyamory. Victor accepts to be a cop again but under conditions. Mathis Bour plays Roman, Panda's son. Ariane is played by Laure Osseni. First episode guest starring Jean-Louis Garçon (Astrid et Raphaëlle) as Roman's teacher, Boris Baroux (Arthur Berthelot), Matthieu Rozé (Frédéric Berthelot), Théo Gerey (Léo), Rosie Boccardi (Manon), etc.

Second episode guest starring Vincent Heneine (Eliott), Nina Bouffier (Valentine), Christian Prat (Marcel), Anne Azoulay (Marina Simon), Nelly Lawson (Chloé), etc. Produced by Superprod Drama with TF1. Produced with the participation of RTL tvi, Be-Films and RTS - Radio Télévision Suisse. Filmed with the support of Région Occitanie. Nathalie Laurent, Clément Calvet et Jérémie Fajner are the producers. Music composed by Adrien Durand. Cinematography by Tristan Tortuyaux. Editing by Frédérique Olczak. Visuel effects by Autrechose. Titles by Mathieu Decarli and Olivier Marquezii for La Brigade du Titre (HPI). Episodes 1 and 2 written by Thomas Mansuy and Mathieu Legrand, directed by Nicolas Cuche (Les Bracelets Rouges). Episodes 3 to 6 helmed by Jérémy Mainguy. Distributed by Newen Connect.

(1) Julien Doré won the 2007 edition of Nouvelle Star, the French version of Pop Idol.
(2) The character is only credited as Lola. Her surname is given once in each of the first couple of episodes (spelling not specified).
(3) He previously appeared as himself in Dix pour cent and had roles in several films or shorts.

https://www.7sur7.be/tele/interview-julien-dore-serie-panda~a3c6ea27/
https://www.francebleu.fr/emissions/terres-de-tournage

Thursday 23 November 2023

LE FIL D'ARIANE - PILOT (TF1)

A retired crime journalist gets involved in the latest investigation of her son, a police commander.

The bottom line: The Chantal Ladesou Mysteries.

Le fil d'Ariane is a 2 x 52-minute crime-comedy pilot for a potential series created for TF1 by Clara Bourreau and Cécile Lugiez (both worked on Sam) and starring the popular comedian, actress and television/radio personality Chantal Ladesou. Written by Clara Bourreau, Cécile Lugiez and Charlène Galan (Profilage), it premiered on Belgian broadcaster La Une this month. Chantal Ladesou is Ariane Legrand, a crime journalist who behaves like a diva though her glory days are behind her. She loses the murder of a female influencer in Sète to a young colleague and she's pushed into retirement by her editor-in-chief.

Ariane Legrand doesn't take it well but the police detective in charge of the case in Sète happens to be her son, Commander Jacques Vidal. No matter that she hasn't seen him and her grandchildren for a long time, Ariane decides to move in with them in order to investigate on the death of the influencer and get her job back. Le fil d'Ariane is essentially Chantal Ladesou as her public persona in an episode of Simon Coleman, the crime-comedy from France 2 where a cop takes care of his sister's three children. The humour ranges from laborious to embarassing. Someone probably thought that the voice-over by the main character was a good idea but it's not.

Comedian and actor Florent Peyre plays Jacques. Pierre Deny (Demain nous appartient) appears as Jean-François. Appoline Kircher is played by Clémence Ansault, Chantal Ladesou's daughter. Also with Lina Ksantini (Camille Vidal), Léni Plouviez Bascop (Noé Vidal), singer and actress Philypa Phoenix (Balthazar) as Capucine Cissé, Tim Rousseau (Amaury Mercier), Alka Balbir (Antonia), etc. Produced by Elephant Story with TF1. Co-produced by AT-Production and RTBF (Télévision belge). Produced with the participation of RTS (Radio Télévision Suisse)Gaëlle Cholet, Charlotte Denaud and Guillaume Renouil are the producers. Music composed by Arno Alyvan. Cinematography by Philippe Lardon. Editing by Thierry Brunello. Distributed by Newen Connect, Le fil d'Ariane was filmed last june. Directed by Jason Roffé (Tandem).