Faubourg 36 (2008) Reviews

• Seems Someone Set Out to Make ONE Movie...and Ended Up Making a Totally DIFFERENT One!

  KissEnglishPasto2013-10-24

  ............................................................from Pasto,Colombia...Via: L.A. CA., CALI, COLOMBIA and ORLANDO, FL Go to the IMDb.com Search-Window and enter the title: "Paris 36" and what do you get?...VOILA! "Faubourg 36"! Therein lies the problem: Apparently, someone set out to make ONE movie...and ended up making a completely DIFFERENT one! This bizarre Paris/Faubourg dichotomy plagues the movie throughout, but particularly during the last half! Paris did, however, get off to a relatively good start...Showing a lot of promise, in a number of different areas: The interaction between lead characters seemed brisk and focused; the sets had a very authentic mid-30's Paris look and feel; Music that had just the right mix of melancholy, nostalgia and pre-war glibness and sung with just the right inflection and ring; plus, different engaging back stories. ...But it all starts sputtering about half way through. Paris spins out of control and becomes a total mess. Absolutely nothing works! I can't imagine what was going though Writer/Director Christophe Barratier's mind, as he pressed on with this project! As "Paris" progresses, the characters' actions became constantly more erratic, unpredictable and demonstrate a continually escalating degree of incongruity with the personality and motives of each character. Protagonists capriciously waltzed in and out of the movie, with little or no explanation or raison d'etre. Because of this, the last half of "Paris" takes on a deus ex machina tainted storyline much more akin to a fairy tale or the romantic daydreams of a 13 year-old Parisian girl. Maybe Paris would have been much easier to follow in the original French. The sub-titles are shamelessly below par. Only about 50% of the dialog actually appears on screen! Thusly, you end up missing HALF of the film! First Half = 8*, Last Half = 2*...OVERALL: 5*....ENJOY/DISFRUTELA?!?!? Any comments, questions or observations, in English or Español, are most welcome! KissEnglishPasto@Yahoo.com

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• A wonderful movie

  richard-17872009-05-15

  This is not a great film, a masterpiece of cinema-as-art. It is, however, a wonderful movie that will delight you while you watch it and leave you with many happy musical memories after it has finished. Though the director and star are the same, this movie does not resemble Les Choristes. It is, instead, an homage to French popular music of the 1930s (and 1940s). If you don't know that music and the stars who made it famous, you'll miss the many references. The movie will still be enjoyable, but it won't evoke the memories (and pleasures) that it would to French viewers over 60. The music, most of it original, nevertheless comes very close to pastiche of popular numbers from that era. (One repeated number is very close to Messager's "Clou clou," which I think is from his Véronique.) The performances and characters also allude to stars of the past, though not necessarily in a one-on-one way. There is the music hall singer Tony Rossignol, whose light lyric tenor recalls Tino Rossi, though his Spanish get-up and music recalls Luis Mariano. Kad Merad's character starts out doing terrible impressions, of animals and Fernandel. He finally has a hit when he starts singing like Charles Trenet. Even though the music is pastiche, it is sometimes very catchy, and very much caught me up. One of the previous reviewers said that Clovis Cornilliac was made up as Jean Gabin but couldn't reproduce the latter's charisma. I hope he was not meant to recall Gabin, because he certainly doesn't. He's pleasant in his role, as is the female lead, but the star is definitely Gerard Jugniot, who gives yet another first-rate performance. This won't make the viewing list for any course on French cinema, nor should it. But you'll definitely enjoy it. P.S. I watched this movie again, about a year after my first viewing of it. While I still found it enjoyable, I realize, in rereading my review, that it was the last part, with all the music, that made the strong impression on me. One of the reviews written since my first one notes that the movie might have been more memorable if there had been more music spread throughout it, and I agree. The show the company originally stages is bad vaudeville, and bad vaudeville numbers have only limited appeal. The subplot concerning Galapiat and the French fascists is somehow disconnected from the rest. Having subsequently seen that same actor, Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, in L'affaire Salengro, where he played someone on the other side of that fight, I realize how much better the issue could have been presented. The film is definitely worth watching, and should please most viewers. Gérard Jugnot gives yet another very fine, very moving performance. I don't know how well it will repay repeated viewings, however. I don't know if I would want to watch it myself a third time.

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• Lovely French movie, tailor-made for fans of foreign films

  inkblot112009-05-27

  Pigoil (Gerard Jugnot) runs a small vaudeville like theater, the Chansonia, in the Faubourg section of Paris. His wife is a "star" of the theater and the rest of the performers are a tight-knit group. Perhaps, too close, for Pigoil is given a double whammy one day. First, his wife has been sleeping with not one, but, two of the other troupe members and, even more sadly, the owner of the building can not pay his debts (it is the depression everywhere) and commits suicide. Soon, Pigoil and his young, idolized son Jojo are barely scraping by. But, then, Pigoil makes a deal with the Fascist like gentleman who truly runs the neighborhood. Can his show group have one month to make the theater profitable again? The ruthless man agrees to give them a chance, for he has his eye on one of their newest performers, a beautiful young singer named Douce. Will the Chansonia become successful once more? This is an unusual look at life in the depression, for it has a French setting, where fascism was brewing in neighboring Germany and in France. There are many subplots to the main one, including one of an agoraphobic music teacher, residing across from the Chansonia, who was once a leading song writer and who has an unlikely connection to Douce. Needless to say, the recreation of the former theater district is very fine, as are the costumes, the cast, the story, and the direction. Therefore, if you like foreign films and unusual tales, put this on your list for future viewing. It is a fine example of quality French cinematic achievements.

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• Nice film with beautiful new actress

  Gregphilip2008-09-29

  Nora Arnezeder reminds me of movie stars of the thirties : beautiful, charming, she can sing, dance, act... Star quality ! As for the film itself, the story is rather simple, which I come to realize, is often what makes it good. It's not so much what the story is about but rather how you tell it. And in that case, you get to laugh, cry, you care about that Pigoil who looses his job, his wife and even his son and who doesn't loose hope, about Milou and Douce's love story. You'll love the great new songs, the homage to Busby Berkeley, Jacky's lousy jokes (a reprise of Kad's own TV skit) and secondary characters played by first-rate comedians like François Morel and the great Pierre Richard. What's not to like ?

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• A great fantasy tribute to Paris in the 1930s

  moore27722009-04-29

  I loved it! Boz Luhrmann meets Cinema Paradiso in numerous ways. The plot is simple, as others here have already described. But it retains an abundance of charm. The undercurrents of antisemitism and fascism that were persistent in 1936 France are themes rarely seen on screen. Ditto for the Communist workers' movement during the same time. The clashes between these two groups were inevitable, and this film depicts that struggle brilliantly, without preaching to us or hitting us over the head with it. All the acting, singing and dancing are extremely well-done, and the cinematography, while Luhrmann-esquire is engaging. Best of all perhaps is the music. This film is destined to be a classic, and will always be on my favorites list. The only thing I would change is that I would retain the original title. The audience for this film is sophisticated enough to handle it.

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