Film Review: Blanche (2002)

over 1 year ago

(source: tmdb.org)

People tend to idealise distant historical eras as times that were in some way more innocent, simpler, kinder and gentler than our time. In reality, people then had much bigger problems than they have today. And some of the issues that they had to deal with it are conspicuously similar to certain issues of our times. Or, at least this is what Bernie Bonvoisin, author of 2002 French period comedy Blanche tries to convince the audience.

The plot of the film is set in mid 17th Century France. The protagonist, played by Lou Doillon, is Blanche de Pèronne, young woman who, as teenage girl, witnessed her parents murdered at the hands of death squad led by Captain KKK (played by Antoine de Caunes), hired by Cardinal Mazarin (played by Jean Rochefort). Nowadays Blanche leads gang of robbers and when mysterious Stranger (played by Antoine Basler) tells about special convoy that is delivering important cargo for Cardinal, she decides to rob it. It turns out that the convoy carries something called “Devil’s powder”.

Blanche takes irreverent approach to French history and tries to subvert tradition by having typical swashbuckling adventure depicted in deliberately anachronistic ways, with dialogue and iconography more fitting to spaghetti westerns, as well more recent Hollywood films about drug dealing business. The idea is intriguing, but in order to work it requires talent. Bonvoisin, who is better known as hard rock musician, did not have it, both as director and the author of script co-written with Guillaume Niclou. To say that Blanche is over-pretentious mess would be an understatement. Dialogues are incomprehensible, jokes aren’t funny and near the end Blanche turns into something that looks more like piece of avant-garde theatre than feature film. Lou Doillon, former model (and half-sister of Charlotte Gainsborugh), at first makes thing interesting with her non-traditional look, but soon her apparent lack of acting ability comes apparent, especially when she is compared with more beautiful and regal Carole Bouquet who appears in the role of Anne of Austria. Blanche actually had rather impressive cast, including Gerard Depardieu playing D’Artagnan, but its presence only made its failure among audience and critics worse. Even the viewers who like to spend their time on screen curisoities should avoid Blanche.

RATING: 2/10 (-)