MICMACS

Hi all this is the second foreign film I have seen in as many weeks and like the first it is BRILLIANT.

I used to have a French mate when I was around fourteen years of age. My other English friend called Greeny (no reference to bogies) pushed him in to a wet bush while we were walking back from school. Now Frederick (my French mate) didn’t like this much and found a stick wiped it in some dog shit and chased Greeny down the street. I have to say I haven’t seen anything quite as funny, concocted by a Frenchmen’s mind since then until now.

The plot is about a French video rental shop assistant ( what a great job) who years earlier was essentially orphaned by a Land mine which kills his solider father while he is working in some Arab country. This leads to his mother being sent to an asylum and him to a catholic school run by nuns. He promptly escapes and we next see him working in the aforementioned video store.

Along comes an impromptu assassination attempt on a passing motorist and by a misfortune of fate our hero Basil (Danny Boon) unfortunately gets shot in the head by a stray bullet. He is left with the bullet in his head by a French quack who tosses a coin to decide if he will remove it while he and his things are evicted from his flat. (He really has very poor luck in the first 20 minutes of the show). However after he has tried and failed to get his job back he discovers that the bullet that hit him and the land mine that sent his life down the toilette were made by two arms manufacturers that are based right there in Paris.

So now you’re thinking I know what happens next, he goes down to the arms dealers’ and let’s fly with some of their products, but no, this isn’t “From Paris with Love”, it’s altogether far more elaborate and hilarious to boot. The fact is the only similarity this flick has with the aforementioned film is that it is set in Paris. However this film doesn’t rely on beautiful French scenery to give it credibility in fact you see the Eifel Tower only once. This film stands up on its own and pokes you in the eye and here is why.

Basil is taken in by a bunch of misfits whose character details could only be dreamed up by a crazy Frenchman on acid. One is a canon ball superstar called Buster, there is a pensioner who is almost certainly the world’s strongest man and among others there is a contortionist who likes to hide in fridges (you’ll see what I mean). Basil along with this mixture of street artists/ cirques performer freaks creates an elaborate plan to help Basil get revenge. Some of the highlights, of which there are many, is the arms dealer who collects memorabilia of historical statesmen such as Churchill’s finger nails and who is in search of Mussolini’s eye. (Sound’s awful I know but it is funny). The use of erotic artists to divert the attention of a security guard is also really original as are all the other wonderful skits and jokes that the film has on offer.

The moral of the film is poignant and hits home well, as we are increasingly exposed to the effect arms trading has on the world and thus us. We are made aware (painfully for Basil) that arms can cause terrible suffering and not just for people half way across the world. However the message of the film is wrapped up in so much cleverness, close shaves and comedy that it doesn’t detract any of the movies’ fun and frolic’s. The story and the excellent acting will really make you fall in love with the characters and of course there is a happy ending which you can savor as you drive home.

One word of warning If you ,like me have a dog, don’t go home and start speaking French to him as he just won’t listen even if he is half poodle.

…………… Viva La France………….

Summary- a fun intelligent movie with excellent thought and with things you haven’t even thought of before, let alone seen.