Aesthetic splendor in dimensions without rough corners
Immediately after "The Artist" and a couple of good films that followed - definitely pleasant, but now nameless in memory - Jean Dujardin became a personal indicator of French cinema for me.
I would like to stress that this is a purely subjective opinion that I do not want to project as a global phenomenon. Very much in the mood of the Oscar-winning film, very much remembered the lead actor, and now, when there is from time to time a desire to see some modern French film – pops up in memory the image of this actor.
Unfortunately, I no longer have time to search for the most interesting films for a particular request, so the search for a movie is simplified to this method.
It so happened that Jean Dujardin fell into the category of actors who are just nice to see on the screen – and you can decide with your eyes closed to view a picture of any genre based on one fact. Admit it, there are inexplicably favorite actors you have, whose acting skills sometimes do not want to analyze?
That's how I got the French Transit. In the retelling of the plot, or long explanations on the topic “what the genre of criminal drama means to me”, to lead to a personal conclusion about what you saw, there is no special need now. I think we can answer two questions.
What is a film about?
Personally, I was reminded of the production standard of French crime film, which you could see last week, in the early 2010s, and quite yourself 15 years ago. For example, close to the “Equal Orfevre, 36”.
At the same time, it reminded the canonical American crime dramas of the 1970s, like “The French Connection” – the presentation of material and the role of the main character in the narrative. Perhaps the matter is in the diligent approach of the creators, not lazy, it is interesting to convey the same era - it is also possible that the reason lies in the proximity of historical events to the same "Connected".
But in any case, the fact of a good genre movie for the evening is in place.
Why should I watch it?
I will not believe anyone who says that Transit has become a powerful emotional outburst, a holy revelation and an occasion for inspiration. Not a movie that blows the brain, surprises and makes you pull out quotes. It’s not the movie you go to in the movies.
Because at home, in my opinion, it looks much more cozy (I am a fan of cinemas, if anything).
And certainly not the source of an evil criminal action like Doberman.
Slowly drawn in, imbued with an era generously flavored with visual markers, contemplating internally cool heroes and villains - all this is best accompanied by watching "French Transit".
And, in my opinion, the most honest, but commensurately calm ending of this story will be a great substitute for the desired bright culmination.
I do not recommend waiting for revelations in at least one of the criteria of the picture, whether it is acting, directing or any other soundtrack. Get involved in everything at once, passing through yourself a leisurely aestheticism, and you will receive one good evening viewing as a reward.
For more, this feeling develops after watching the movie and did not try to claim.
7 out of 10
Read the description of the film, watch the trailer, see the cast and understand, there is everything to create a great crime film with a beautiful picture of Marcel in the early 70s, and the main character, similar to the hero of James Bond played by Sean Connery.
All in order, though. We are told about the Marseille judge Pierre Michel, who is investigating the case of the capture of the local mafia, overseeing drug trafficking from Marseille to New York. And then the question arises, why is it a judge and not a commissioner? I am certainly not strong in French justice, but this is already a misunderstanding. The misunderstanding is also caused by the fact that only by the middle of the film I understood the name of the main mafia, and in general there are a lot of characters in the film, none of them are fully disclosed and, in general, it is unclear who, what and why, they do not even try to explain anything to us, allegedly hinting, here, look at the beautiful picture, cars, costumes, seas and oceans. It seems that there is a mafia, but there is no hierarchical ladder, at some point in the film they decided to remove a madman (one of the members of the gang), but it is normal not to explain the essence of the conflict, although he was also part of their circle, and so the whole film! Everything that happens on the screen is unsaid! It seems that there were no writers at all.
The judge broke into houses, caught gang members, wiretapped, threw weapons, created lawlessness, and all this for the sake of a quiet life for the inhabitants of the city. He also had a family, wife and children, family problems, because the judge did not protect himself, all the time caught criminals, did not sleep at home, his wife did not satisfy. What do you think? Of course, at one point, returning home, the judge found an empty house and a letter, the contents of which can not be retold. Another amusing moment, when the final operation was planned to seize a chemical laboratory somewhere in the mountains, the judge, being at home with his wife, after a call about the start of the operation, managed to use the teleport and immediately be on the scene and led the whole case from a slide, using the radio and, of course, at the right moment managed to disarm the armed criminal.
It seemed that the director took an entire season of The Wire and put it in one film, cutting out all the dialogue moments. He called his product “French Transit”.
Of course, I apologize for my sarcasm, just really did not like the implementation of a good idea with interesting actors. The only thing I liked about this film was the picture and some drama in the finale.
For a long time I thought about what color to color the review, and despite all the criticism, it will be neutral.
Already during the trailer there was a feeling that the film Cedric Gimenez will not disappoint my expectations. It happened. The picture turned out to be brilliantly staged atmospheric crime retro drama, where you, thanks to the skill of the creators, for two hours immersed in Marseilles of the late 70s with an acute problem of drug trafficking.
I don’t know who, but about 20 minutes after the start, I was visited by nostalgia for the TV series "Socprut". It is a small difference in the timing of the action (Commissioner Corrado Cattani will begin his fight against the Sicilian mafia just a few years after Pierre Michel in Marseille), but even more in the amazing similarity of characters, details and circumstances in which it is necessary to act and accept them as fact. It seems that such heroes are simply doomed to go through such trials.
Jean Dujardin is excellent as a police judge. It is a matter of personal preferences, of course, but I believe that this role was played by the actor much more successfully and stronger than his Oscar-winning one in Artist. Before us is a strong, strong-willed, crystal honest, decent person with a sharpened sense of justice, which does not allow him to put up with how drugs kill people and break their lives, bring fabulous profits to drug dealers. In this respect, an introductory scene is well thought out and played, showing the evil that drugs bring to the face, in all its “beauty”. It initially defines and places all subsequent accents. And Dujardin in it and throughout the action convincing to the hundred. He is not a Marseille superman, he is also visited by doubts and moments of weakness, especially circumstances are not always favorable for him. There is loneliness, because not all of his colleagues are ready for such radical measures, and the weakness of local authorities, which is corroded by corruption and fed by the very mafia, with which Michelle so bravely fights. There is a hidden opposition from officials and even individual law enforcement officers, and an open opposition from the very drug syndicate. All this gives rise to minutes, even in such an indomitable fighter as Pierre, a sense of futility of effort, hopelessness and loneliness. The wife cannot withstand the strain and fanatical devotion of the husband to his work, which forces him to spend there all day long, and problems begin in the family. Didn't anyone remember Kattani? Everything is almost one in one. Dujardin All this plays not to say that spectacularly, but very expressive: you believe Pierre in any of his moods and state of mind.
No less good in the film is also vis-à-vis Michel - local drug lord Tanya Zampa performed by Gilles Lellouche, which I happened to see on the screen for the first time. He managed to play a typical mafia leader of those years - a man, on the one hand, cunning, cruel, cynical and dangerous, but on the other - intelligent, even charming, disposed to himself and loving sometimes to play, or even to really show nobility and justice. Needless to say, he is also a good family man and a loving father. In general, the classical patriarch of the then “Cosa Nostra”.
His meeting and conversation with Michel is perhaps the key scene and the best in the film. A stunning ringing tension at the limit, a duel of characters and principles, a play of nerves - who to whom? Then I remembered another criminal drama "Fight" and a similar episode in it, when the relationship between each other clarify the characters Al Pacino and De Niro - the same strong outstanding personalities as Michelle and Zampa, by the will of fate were on different sides of the law. After such scenes, it is time to establish an Oscar nomination for the best individual episode in a particular film, so everything here is honed and verified to the slightest detail, to a fleeting glance and gesture.
All the other actors in "French Transit" played smoothly, but it is difficult to single out someone, Zampa and Michel look very bright and spectacular.
The music of the composer Guillaume Passel also contributed. It seems nothing particularly outstanding, but several themes are sunk in memory and in the soul.
One of the best French crime dramas in recent years, and in the world ranking of paintings of this genre, it will not trail in the tail. A beautiful duo Dujardin — Lellouch I would like to see on the big screen more than once. They worked very well.
Surprisingly bad film, colorless, lethargic and very stupid. It is clear that the territory of the polar is closely occupied by Olivier Marshal, whose films, with all self-repeats, are still masculinists and with nerve. There is no drive or nerve in Gimenez’s painting: a complacent narrative about an honest judge with whom shit is good from one spoon. Everything he pulls: operational work, and falsification of evidence, and surveillance, and issuing warrants. It is completely unclear why he was not killed in the first five minutes of the film and it is completely unclear what kind of way to catch the antagonist at the end of the film.
Cardboard roles are performed without enthusiasm. Dujardin’s star status is somewhat obliging, but the villain is completely uncharismatic. Flat dialogue, no memorable scenes, mediocre shootouts. Remember at least the scene with the split of Da Costa: it is so simple, flat and simple that it absolutely does not meet the set bar by modern TV series. I just watched this film after “The Wire” – well, the sky and the earth for ambition, the quality of the whole group and impressions.
Gimenez is an unambiguous clipmaker and picture, gives up, shot exclusively because of the scenes to the music of the seventies. There are too many such scenes in the film. Included in the music series and Bang bang. The topic is so worn that its next film exploitation is evidence of bad taste. So was it worth shooting another empty and uninteresting crime film for the sake of retro design, since retrosuits and mores have already been recreated no worse in Marseille’s no better film about the Marseilles?
2 out of 10
"French Transit" is a representative of the traditional action-packed criminal thrillers of French cinema, which have long proven themselves in the genre and are in great demand among viewers. It is also the absolute opposite of the pope professed by Luc Besson and his followers.
Although the story itself looks retold dozens of times before, still from the project of the director Cedric Gimenez should not be abandoned. Firstly, in this film there is a certain return after his triumph of the actor Jean Dujardin, who after his cherished golden statuette somehow dissolved in weak films, and secondly, the film "French Transit" strangely traces the ideological vocation to the servants of the law, who, as we know, work far from society.
Otherwise, the film is superficial and readable, the villain from Gilles Lellouche turned out weak, and the plot is frankly stuffed with water to fill the air. Plus, the authors of the film absolutely do not hesitate to be banal like other films like "Enemy of the state N1" and others.
If you have previously familiarized yourself with the best hits of French crime thrillers - this film will not reward you with a special impression, but without it, the work of Gimenez is a good lightning rod from the Hollywood conveyor, which is struggling to be dynamic and realistic.
7 out of 10
The 70s of the twentieth century, a group of enterprising guys of different nationalities creates a golden triangle: opium collected by hardworking Turks is delivered to Marseille, cunning frogs make pure heroin out of opium, and send life-giving powder across the ocean - the dried veins of democracy fighters vibrate with impatience. The scheme brings so much money to the creators that policemen, judges, prosecutors are bought wholesale, naive idealists, stupidly clinging to principles, as a rule, are found comfortably bathing in pools of their own blood.
Triangle: Turkey - Marseille - states, called - French transit. The French part of the route is controlled by the Neapolitan Zampa: competitors grunt with blood, bills gently crunch, his wife opened a nightclub, Zampa is a real lucky man, a pamper of fate. As you know, fate is a windy person, today she smiles at you, and tomorrow she mockingly spins juicy buttocks in front of your nose. In the Department of combating organized crime appointed a new judge – Pierre Michel.
Michelle does not take bribes (and if he takes, he spends them on charity), does not sleep with women (it has long been proven that his wife is not a special opposite sex), he does not even drink alcohol, his only passion is cards, and she remained in the distant past. Can the idealist defeat a system based on lies, bribery and blood?
Style is the defining concept for this film. Hairless French men, bronze faces, whiskers, expensive accessories, nightclubs with their vicious atmosphere, bundles of money, slowly creeping cigarette smoke - everything is very sensual and atmospheric. The polished judge Michelle chases scoundrels, chases, chases ... and so on, for more than two hours. Judging by the film, French judges are involved in the process of investigating criminal cases, Michel is personally involved in the detention of local blatars.
Director Jimenez tried to embrace the immense - to combine the action movie and drama, in places he managed to do it. Performed in the style of Damiano Damiani scenes of murders, routine police investigation, the mental anguish of the judge, experiences Zampa – in the middle of the story, the film noticeably loses momentum, no, it is not bad at all, it is an amateur, though this amateur must still be found. Intentional or not, but the director picked up the main roles of actors who look similar. Jimenez quickly alternates shots with the participation of one or the other, and at some point they cease to distinguish.
The sarcastic Dujardin (Judge Michelle) is hardly restrained from a poisonous, obscene grin, and it feels like it cost him his efforts to keep the role. From under the strict guise of a lawyer breaks out, the obscenely laughing face of an old figlar. The line: Zampa – Madman (a good role of Majimel) is not brought to its logical conclusion, the showdowns inside the criminal clan look unfinished. Emaciated Gallic females: Salette (wife of Michel) and Dotej (wife of Zampa) demonstrate ardent love and devotion to husbands, Marcel enchants with an abundance of sea and sun, director Jimenez pleases fans of mafia cinema of the eighties.
Bottom line.
Not a bad stylization with a harshly woven Dujardin in the title role, and a predictable ending.
7 out of 10
Director Cedric Jimenez as the basis of his second full-length film “French Transit” took an interesting story. The film, based on real events, tells the story of the Corsican mafia, which in the 60-70s was engaged in large-scale production of heroin and its supply in the United States and around the world. The assembly and distribution point was in Marseille.
The main character - the investigating judge for the fight against banditry - Pierre Michel (Jean Dujardin) sets a goal to end the Marseille drug trafficking and the main mafia - Gaetano Dzampa (Gilles Lelleuch). A judge is a man of duty and conscience. He is dedicated to his work and in a desperate fight against criminals neglects even family relationships. The hero will have to face inaction in the highest spheres of power, in addition, with their involvement in the dirty affairs of a thriving drug syndicate.
The film captures the skillfully recreated atmosphere of those years thanks to film, camera work, stylish musical accompaniment, luxuriously selected costumes and, undoubtedly, the main trump card - a brilliant cast. Because the trio Dujardin-Lellouch-Majimel impress no less than the royal flush in poker.
All the more sad when you start to notice that the picture “limps” on the lack of dynamics and weak dialogue. Development in the film, as you know, should gain "temperature". And at first it naturally manifests itself in the active activity of the hero Dujardin. When the maximum level is reached, the climax comes. The most important event that dramatically changes the dynamics, the course of history and the behavior of the characters. So the fragment of the face-to-face meeting and the essence of the dialogue between Judge Michel and the Zampa mafia indicated that the culmination of the film was to be their clash in the future. But the viewer is deceived: everything that happens in the picture increases aggression between the protagonist and the antagonist, and the necessary decisive battle between them will not take place. Thus, the most related characters develop independently of each other.
The maximum (climax) in the film was the moment when Pierre Michel’s team captured a chemical laboratory where heroin is brewed, and several important figures of the mafia clan. But the tempo and tension of the episode are too low, given that the film is so deliberately absent scenes of frenetic shootings and chases. Therefore, the climax does not shoot and remains unnoticed by the viewer.
There are moments in the film when the dialogue is slurred or misleading, and the logic of the behavior of some characters is not fully spelled out in the script. For a while it seems that the main character gave up the work of his life and spends time with his family. But later the viewer is only verbally informed that the judge was simply removed from the case. And for a character who represents justice, having such a scene is extremely important. The logic of the protagonist’s wife is not always clear. The moment of her change of attitude to her husband’s dangerous work and humility to this fact are not taken into account in the plot. Same story with Gaetano Zampa's wife. In the script there is no relation of the heroine to the affairs of her husband. At first, she seems unaware of his criminal business and then accepts the consequences of his illegal activities by default. The hero-antagonist is registered as a cruel and merciless drug dealer. But when a member of his group dies, he is grieved by the event, although the fortress of friendship between the characters has not previously been broadcast. And the further, the more questions arise to the tape.
The story of the Corsican mafia has already been raised in William Friedkin's 1971 Oscar-winning film The French Connection. Perhaps the pictures are not worth comparing, but it is unlikely that the new interpretation of Cedric Hemenez will be able to compete with the thriller Friedkin. “French Connection” is famous for the reference scene of the main character’s pursuit of a killer, and the film itself is recognized by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest films in history. I highly recommend watching.
As for the painting by Cedric Hemenez: beautiful, stylish, but not a masterpiece. Perhaps “French Transit” could become an example of a good classic thriller, a la France, but this is hampered by failures in dynamics, a blurred climax and catastrophically weak dialogue.
However, the sharp corners in the film are smoothed by the magnificent play of Jean Dujardin. And before watching a new film with an outstanding Artist, it is impossible to resist!
6 out of 10
“French Transit” is the name of the new French crime thriller. And this picture is devoted to the infamous events of the late 70s of the past century, when Marseille, located on the Mediterranean coast, became the largest transshipment point for drug trafficking. Immediately comes to mind the wonderful American film diology "French Connection" (with Jim Hackman), especially the famous and Oscar-winning first part. And also it is impossible not to recall as the classic French and Italian crime tapes from the golden bygone era - "Sprut", "Communication through a pizzeria", "outlaw", and criminal French films of the new wave - especially "Between two fires" and "Promenade Orfevre, 36".
And in this picture, such titans as Jean Dujardin and Benoit Majimel play. It is enough to mention these two names. It’s also a really tough crime movie. In terms of its inner strength and power, the film can be compared with the same recent “Lyons” (in the Russian box office the film was called “Untouchables”). But if in the “Lyons” the main characters of the story were bandits, however, bandits of the old school, real, so to speak, people of honor, then in the “transit” the main character is a police judge. A man who, having watched the fate of teenagers broken by drugs, dared to declare open war on the Marseille gang. And at the other end of the ring is his opponent, a man who lives by animal instincts, fierce and very dangerous. And one of their encounters on a deserted road is actually a (psychological) duel of two strong personalities.
Very good entourage of the film, it feels like watching the same good old French cinema. Motorcycles, Citroen DS, costumes and hairstyles... The aroma of a distant era is in the air, as is the smoke from cigarettes. And disco music. And this film is really very close to the same "Optus" - having started with a murder, it will end with them. There will be an action scene in the film, but the basis of it is a psychological war between the police and criminals. And also the war between policemen and politicians (remember that there is actually a mafia, or rather, the merger of organized crime groups with the political elite). Good, strong, even passionate sometimes movies. In the middle, the action sags somewhat, but the film does not cross a dangerous line.
Resume: a great example of a good, strong, stylish French crime film. Dujardin himself. The atmosphere of the former era of good old cinema is available.