From the director of such films like Amelie, Alien: Resurrection, and A Very Long Engagement, comes Micmacs. This is the most imaginative revenge story since Kill Bill with a whole different approach. From what Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the director and co-writer, said, Micmacs is French slang for shenanigans and there are plenty of them in the movie. The story begins in such a weird fashion that it sets the tone for the rest of the film. First, a man is killed by a rogue weapon that goes haywire and leaves a son without a father and only a company logo to look at as the killer. Later on, the same son is working at a video shop and happens to stand in the exact angle of a rogue bullet so that it strikes him in the head. Luckily, he survives but unluckily, the surgeon operating flipped a coin and decided to leave the bullet in his head causing random hallucinations at random times which he can’t control. Again, with the bullet, the only clue he has is another company logo.
After losing his job at the video rental store, his apartment, and everything else he knows, he stumbles across a motley crew of people just like him living in a trash dump. I think you get the symbolism here, they’re the leftover people that others just toss away. While collecting odds and ends for his new trash crew which includes a contortionist, a writer, a stunt devil, machinist, and mother-figure who takes care of all of them, Bazil’s (our main character played by Dany Boon) vehicle breaks down in front of two buildings. The two buildings happen to be competing weapon manufactures who are across the street from each other. Coincidently, the two company’s logos are the same two logos in Bazil’s memory. The company who was responsible for killing his father and the company responsible for the bullet in his head. Now it’s time for revenge.
On his own, Bazil probably couldn’t have done much. But now with his team of has beens and wannabes, he can set off a plan to get sweet sweet revenge on two terrible people. He pits them against each other and the antics that ensue are hilarious and imaginative. It’s a nonstop back and forth battle to see what happens next and who has the upper hand. Throw in some gunmen and plot twists and you have a great creative and entertaining story. Even though the whole movie is in French, you are sure to laugh from the lines, body language, and facial expressions of the characters. An interesting relationship grows out of the trash pile as the story unfolds which is actually pretty cute and you start to root for every member of the trash team while hating the two weapon manufacturer owners even while entering their own private lives.
The shenanigans, or micmacs, start small but keep growing and growing and quickly escalate into the final scenes where the plan all comes together and Bazil gets more than just revenge for himself. Find this film. I believe it’s already on DVD in France but just making its rounds in the United States. It’s getting a limited release but should be opening in a decent amount of theaters as time goes by.
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I apologize for not updating more but the South By Southwest Conference and Film Festival is hectic! There’s so much to do, I don’t know how anybody can get it all done. I flew in Friday night and today is Wednesday, I’ve seen over a dozen films in the past 4 days and almost all of them have been great. Here’s a quick recap of what I’ve been up to. I’ll be writing more in depth reviews when the festival is over.
