Micmacs Movie Review – Plus New Trailer And Clips – SXSW

My best personal experience at SXSW was the night I saw Micmacs, starting with the wait in line. Much like the night I waited to get into the documentary on The White Stripes, I couldn't help wondering if these people actually knew what they were waiting to see. In fact, once I arrived to see the Micmacs line, I had to think that somehow the lines for these two films had been switched.

Inside I discovered that, no, these people knew what they were coming to see (or were putting on a hell of an act), despite the fact that a solid portion of the audience Jeunet himself came out to greet might have had a date for a Jack White look-a-like later in the evening.

As I left the theater, I checked to see what instant reactions were hitting Twitter, and one of them really struck me. Unfortunately, I don't recall if this person was a critic, or simply someone otherwise attending the festival, but their Tweet, paraphrased, went like this - "An OK movie, but for Jeunet it was a lazy, easy effort." (There was more explanation, and further Tweets, but that's the idea)

It may not seem like much, especially in this crazy Tweeting world, but I found it a truly brilliant message, because it speaks volumes.

In a certain sense, you have to admit to seeing the general point. Quirky, odd characters. Strange gags which probably involve some weird conglomeration of equally strange props. An adventure that is probably a really bad idea, with characters that only make their way through by virtue of a series of bumbling, happy accidents. We're looking at people who are easily described as being among "the down-trodden masses," or are otherwise up against a certain "them," of the establishment or society.

Not only are these among the hallmarks of Jeunet films, but Micmacs really runs with these idea. Sepia, quite frankly, is very nearly run into the ground. That the film screams Jeunet in every possible way is undeniable. Even that, through some perspective, it more or less amounts to nothing you haven't seen from him before is a hard statement to overcome.

I loved this bit of criticism I ran into, simply because it is (to me anyway) such a telling statement on the culture in general. Perhaps in large part because I had just seen the film with an astoundingly diverse audience, I could not help but find it absolutely amazing that being able to recognize the artist from the work is itself considered a flaw. That continuing in a similar motif is boring. That doing something brilliant enough times is easy, because it looks a lot like the brilliant thing you did before, and how hard (or interesting) is it for you to do it again? Imagine a newly discovered Monet producing the reaction, "Well, sure, more water flowers. Yawn."

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The adventure this time around is the story of a man named Bazil (Dany Boon), who loses his father in the war, and later in life is nearly killed by a stray bullet. Through a fairly random twist of fate, he stumbles upon the arms manufacturers who made both the landmine and the bullet.

His effort at causing these companies difficulty by standing around chagrined and staring blankly, but with great malice, at their corporate offices doesn't amount to much, but he conveniently falls in with a ragtag assortment of society's outcasts living in a junkyard, and soon schemes are hatched.

With the resources only a junkyard can provide, and the semi-interesting skills found only among the least treasured inhabitants of society, Bazil and his crew embark on a loosely-connected series of hare-brained adventures meant to turn the arms dealers against each other.

Our crew has a contortionist, a cranky, older man who claims to hold the distance record for being shot out of a cannon, a mother hen who lost her child and has taken on this odd rabble to fill the void, and more besides, each of them more real for their unreality than the last.

Throughout this fun, somewhat zany adventure that pits the smallest of the small against the biggest of the big, there is an undertone of fairy tale that pulls you along, and delivers its statements without having to say any of them. This fairy tale idea, or perhaps simply allegory by way of that which lacks a real connection with the sensible, is perhaps what Jeunet is always doing, but Micmacs puts the comparison out there more forcefully. If fairy tales came from times not so concerned with knights, witches, and dragons, this is what they would look like.

There is that certain shy, slightly embarrassed whimsy at work here that is quite similar to the feel of Amelie, but Micmacs does its best work just in offering up its story for you to ponder. Though ludicrous when you get right down to it, frequently rivaling a Road Runner cartoon in terms of plausibility, it nevertheless manages a pinpoint accuracy in delivering the utterly real. Bazil's infinite charm, and the occasional bouts of slapstick make it a joy to watch, but like those fairy tales of old that trick you into deep thoughts by building a bard's tale around them, there are things going on here.

I suspect that every audience member will find their own nuggets to take away from Micmacs. It might be the undisguised way in which the smallest events become such large parts of our lives, the fact that the gang adopts Bazil's mission as their own without really knowing anything more than that it is his mission, how easy it actually is to topple giants, or just how silly those giants are even compared to these silly, societal discards. It will be something though, and as you sit there smiling for over 100 minutes, you may find that it is nothing more than falling in love with movies all over again.

Just another easy day at the office.

Rating:  

Check out the trailer and a couple of clips below.

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• SXSW Review: Micmacs (cinematical.com)
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About Marc Eastman

Marc Eastman is the owner and operator of Are You Screening? and has been writing film reviews for over a decade, and several branches of the internet's film review world have seen his name. His reviews have brought him personal praise from the director of a major motion picture, and have been used as required reading in a course at a major University. These priceless rewards, along with just bags of cash, keep him from straying from freelance writing. He is also a member of The Broadcast Film Critics Association and The Broadcast Television Journalists Association.

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