Sunday, May 22, 2011

Movie Preview: La Fée (The Fairy)

[post 141]

My old friend Bernie Collins, now living in Paris and performing as one half of BP Zoom, has alerted me to the Cannes Film Festival premiere of La Fée (The Fairy), co-starring Bernie's BP Zoom partner, Philippe Martz.  The film is written and directed by its other co-stars,  Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon, and Bruno Romy. Their previous films are Rumba and Iceberg, and their style owes a lot to the silent film / physical comedy traditions.

Here's the trailer:





The movie is already getting good press here in the United States:



The Belgo-Canadian-French trio, who specialize in pantomime and circus-style theatrics, have a clownlike knack for finding humor in the everyday. Ketchup bottles, bicycle chains and folding chairs become instruments of uproarious inspiration -- a reminder of the degree to which good, old-fashioned physical comedy has faded from cinema. But unlike Peter Sellers, Jacques Tati and others who've excelled in this department, Dom and Fiona come as a pair, bringing a welcome dash of romance to the proceedings.
[You can read the whole Variety review here.]




CANNES -- Dishing out another slew of colorfully anarchistic sight gags, Belgium-based trio Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon and Bruno Romy are back with their latest Keystone-style romp, The Fairy (La Fee). Firmly grounded in the work of Chaplin, Keaton and especially Jacques Tati, to which they add a few welcome socio-political twists, these talented writers-directors-actors should have their wish granted with further arthouse exposure following an opening bow in the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.
[And you'll find the whole Hollywood Reporter review here.]

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