Katuwapitiya

Micmacs à tire-larigot

So I caught my first (and only) movie at TIFF yesterday afternoon (the 10 cents in ad revenue from this site means that I can afford one TIFF ticket every 6 years). I searched long and hard to find the perfect film to see. Something that wouldn’t be out in Canadian theatres soon (re: Men Who Stare At Goats), something that had a good director and some sort of personal connection (was thinking of Between Two Worlds because of its country of origin), something just right. I found it with Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s “Micmacs à tire-larigot“. (Roughly translates to: “Dodgy dealings by the dozens”).

Amelie (aka Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain) is one of my favourite movies of all time. There was no way that I was passing up seeing a new movie by the director of such a masterpiece (even though I was less than thrilled with his last movie, 5 years ago). What could have explained such a long absence from filmmaking? What did he come up with during that time? My mind was racing with questions.

But I didn’t watch a trailer before attending the movie. Just like Amelie, I wanted to know nothing going in. And just like Amelie, I was very impressed. Though not on its echelon, Micmacs à tire-larigot displays much of the whimsical direction and narrative devices that made Amelie such a breath of fresh air. I don’t want go into detail about the plot because I hate movie reviews that reveal too much. In a nutshell, it’s like a Parisian Kill Bill mixed with Mission Impossible….

The cast of Micmacs à tire-larigot

Haha, ok, I’ll be slightly more specific. It’s a comedy about a man and a gang of misfits trying to get revenge on a bunch of war profiteers. It’s set in current day Paris and reveals both the highest and lowest levels of Parisian society. It contains an awesome ensemble cast that contains a few familiar faces from his older movies. The missions that they undertake are crafted by Jeunet with such wonder and intricacy, it’s really an incredible feat. Every step of the way, the audience wonders: “What’s next?!”

With that said, there were some lulls in the movie and you will have to suspend your disbelief for parts of it. The lack of Yann Tiersen contributions to the soundtrack was also a shame (although, he’s doing his own thing now and I’m glad he didn’t do it here). Most importantly, the similarities to Amelie were great but thinking about Jeunet’s style of storytelling brings to mind an Iron & Wine album: the songs all sound amazing but they all sound the same. It would have been nice to see more of departure from his old techniques. With that said, chain reactions and funny quirks are what makes this such a great film (and I love Iron & Wine).

If you’re in the mood for a fantastical tale that can make you forget about your troubles for a while, Micmacs à tire-larigot is for you. It will make you laugh in a way that only a Jeunet film can bring out (a joke about Rambo comes to mind) and it will surprise you every step of the way. He also says that this might be his last film set in Paris. That’s worth the price of admission alone. (Also got a standing ovation, if you still need convincing).

In the Q & A after the film, Jeunet revealed that the reason for the 5 year hiatus since his last film was actually due to a Life of Pi adaptation that he was making. He had taken thousands of photos, had a script, had gone off to India to scout locations and in the end, it was decided that the budget would be far too much and the project was dropped. It’s a shame because Jeunet would have been the most intriguing director (of those who have been thrown around) to adapt this film. It’s also a shame because it deprived us of Jeunet’s genius for so long. Jeunet revealed that this script didn’t take very long to write because it contained a lot of old ideas and was set in the city he knows best. Luckily, with a bit of polish, Jeunet was able to make a few recycled parts into the wonder that is Micmacs à tire-larigot. Definitely a film that you should check out!