Locarno International Film Festival
LOCARNO, Switzerland -- Wry, nostalgic and wonderfully nutty, Samuel Benchetrit's comedy I Always Wanted to be a Gangster is a warm if cockeyed homage to old-time crime movies.
Masterfully shot in the Academy aspect ratio and vivid black-and-white of Bogie and Cagney pictures, it relates the earnest but ham-fisted attempts by a group of unrelated characters to turn their hands to crime. It might be a hard sell, but lovers of old movies and those who relish screen comedy that is written, staged and performed smartly Will Love this.
The only link between each of the stories is a functional cafeteria on the outskirts of Paris, where conurbation is cementing over both greenery and the illusory recollection of better times. But Benchetrit weaves his yarns together so cleverly that the film does not feel episodic. He succeeds in switching from goofball slapstick to screwball banter to the driest observational wit -- and back again -- without missing a beat.
The film begins and ends with two would-be villains who seem made for each other. Franck (Edouard Baer) is a witless hoodlum whose stab at robbing the cafeteria at gunpoint is hampered by the absence of a gun and the fact that he's locked his keys inside his getaway car. Susie (Anna Mouglalis) is the sassy waitress who laughs at his feeble hold-up technique largely because she has his gun. The backstory to this, and to the other chapters, is told in silent-movie style complete with title cards.
Meanwhile, a pair of bumbling and essentially decent kidnappers, played by Bouli Lanners and Serge Lariviere, have broken into a rich man's home and grabbed his daughter Selma El Mouissi) for ransom. They couldn't know that, though she is spoiled and nubile, she is also suicidal, and her father is happy to be rid of her.
Still, they leave a message on dad's phone to arrange an exchange meeting at the cafeteria, where, by chance, two groups of touring musicians arrive with vocalists Alain Bashung and the single-named Arno playing versions of themselves. One is successful, the other not so much, and when temptation is offered, it's too hard to resist.
Then there's the gang of retired criminals who have come together at what used to be their hideout because one of them is mortally ill and they want to fulfill youthful pledges to one another. These old reprobates are played by a wonderful array of character actors: Jean Rochefort, Laurent Terzieff, Jean-Pierre Kalfon, Venantino Venantini and Roger Dumas. Being together again makes them long for one more heist, but the bank they robbed in their last job 25 years ago isn't what it used to be.
The finest compliment to the filmmakers and splendid cast is that you wish the movie wouldn't end. These are marvelously rendered characters, and it would be great to spend more time in their misguided but endearing company.
LOCARNO, Switzerland -- Wry, nostalgic and wonderfully nutty, Samuel Benchetrit's comedy I Always Wanted to be a Gangster is a warm if cockeyed homage to old-time crime movies.
Masterfully shot in the Academy aspect ratio and vivid black-and-white of Bogie and Cagney pictures, it relates the earnest but ham-fisted attempts by a group of unrelated characters to turn their hands to crime. It might be a hard sell, but lovers of old movies and those who relish screen comedy that is written, staged and performed smartly Will Love this.
The only link between each of the stories is a functional cafeteria on the outskirts of Paris, where conurbation is cementing over both greenery and the illusory recollection of better times. But Benchetrit weaves his yarns together so cleverly that the film does not feel episodic. He succeeds in switching from goofball slapstick to screwball banter to the driest observational wit -- and back again -- without missing a beat.
The film begins and ends with two would-be villains who seem made for each other. Franck (Edouard Baer) is a witless hoodlum whose stab at robbing the cafeteria at gunpoint is hampered by the absence of a gun and the fact that he's locked his keys inside his getaway car. Susie (Anna Mouglalis) is the sassy waitress who laughs at his feeble hold-up technique largely because she has his gun. The backstory to this, and to the other chapters, is told in silent-movie style complete with title cards.
Meanwhile, a pair of bumbling and essentially decent kidnappers, played by Bouli Lanners and Serge Lariviere, have broken into a rich man's home and grabbed his daughter Selma El Mouissi) for ransom. They couldn't know that, though she is spoiled and nubile, she is also suicidal, and her father is happy to be rid of her.
Still, they leave a message on dad's phone to arrange an exchange meeting at the cafeteria, where, by chance, two groups of touring musicians arrive with vocalists Alain Bashung and the single-named Arno playing versions of themselves. One is successful, the other not so much, and when temptation is offered, it's too hard to resist.
Then there's the gang of retired criminals who have come together at what used to be their hideout because one of them is mortally ill and they want to fulfill youthful pledges to one another. These old reprobates are played by a wonderful array of character actors: Jean Rochefort, Laurent Terzieff, Jean-Pierre Kalfon, Venantino Venantini and Roger Dumas. Being together again makes them long for one more heist, but the bank they robbed in their last job 25 years ago isn't what it used to be.
The finest compliment to the filmmakers and splendid cast is that you wish the movie wouldn't end. These are marvelously rendered characters, and it would be great to spend more time in their misguided but endearing company.
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