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Also Known As: The Great Spy Chase (English) |
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| Year of first release: 1964 | |
| Director: Georges Lautner (Les Tontons Flingueurs, Le Professionnel) | |
| Actors: Lino Ventura (Le Silencieux), Francis Blanche, Bernard Blier | |
| Country: F | |
| Genre: Comedy, Polar | |
| Conditions of visioning: 20.04.2014, DVD, 16" computer screen | |
| Synopsis: Spies from the old continent compete for retrieving capital patents from a young widow. | |
| Review: I knew that this movie was a parody of spy movies and I thought I had seen it once, but watching it this time didn't ring any bell. The DVD is sold in a box-set together with Les Tontons Flingueurs as it is from the same period, director, screenplay writer and with many of the same actors. But although I love that other one, I found it more difficult to appreciate Les Barbouzes. The offbeat humor is quite special, so is the 'experimental' soundtrack. Still I could appreciate the irony, the actor's play and some crispy dialogs written by the famous Michel Audiard (a third DVD in the box-set is dedicated to him), like my favorite: "- Retirement is better taken young. - More importantly it is better taken alive! Not all of us can afford it!". It is unrealistic that almost only French actors play in this supposedly international movie (like the French, German, Italian and Russian spies) but I accept that. It is funny that those four countries of the Old Continent compete and cannot come to an agreement, but we realize they have a lot in common (they have no money and have to rely on charm to get what they want) and when an outsider emerges (USA with money, China with sheer numbers) they are quickly and efficiently uniting against it. |
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Rating: 5 /10
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More than entertainment, an Art.
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Les Barbouzes (1964)
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I watched the movie on 04.01.2017 as Bluray in French version. Even if I liked the slapstick comedy spirit and the charm of the actors, Mireille Darc always smiling, Lino Ventura who cannot retain some smiles for a serious man. Obviously the actors had a lot of fun. I had also some fun, but the movie feels more like a series of slapstick gags than a spy story with many gags. Many times I thought about a sketch by Les Inconnus using the same French specialities than in Les Barbouzes (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biAUsaBKU3c). For slightly different reasons, I would come to the same rating of 5/10.
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