OSS 117: Cairo Nest of Spies (2006, Michel Hazanavicius)
Lovers of 60’s Bond movies should get a hold of a copy of OSS 117: Cairo Nest of Spies. Although the films director Michel Hazanavicius’s and leading man Jean Dujardin send up the spy genre they do so with style and intelligence. There are moments when you could swear you were watching an early Connery Bond film, especially one of those directed by Terence Young.
Jean Bruce created Hubert Bonniseur de la Bath aka OSS 117 in 1949, four years before Ian Fleming published his first 007 novel, ‘Casino Royale.’ Likewise the French OSS 117 film series predates the first Bond film Dr No (Terence Young 1962) by six years, with Ivan Desny taking the lead in OSS 117 is Not Dead (Jean Sacha 1956). There were no other OSS 117 films until 1964, by which time Bond mania no doubt inspired the producers to bring France’s favourite secret agent back to the big screen.
Compared to the Bond movies, the OSS 117 films had fairly cheap production values and were never released outside France. Another six films followed in the series with the most notable being No Roses for OSS 117 (Renzo Cerrato/Jean Pierre Desagnat 1968) with the American actor John Gavin in the leading role. Interestingly Gavin nearly got the chance to play James Bond, having been provisionally cast in Diamonds are Forever (Guy Hamilton 1971) before graciously stepping aside when the producers persuaded Sean Connery to return.
While Jean Bruce’s novels and the earlier films were serious OSS 117: Cairo Nest of Spies is a comedy making fun of the values present in the spy genre in the Fifties and Sixties. The Austin Powers movies largely sent up and celebrated the pop culture aspects of these movies. Hazanavicius and Dujardin also do this, but they are far more critical about the anachronistic social attitudes present in the genre.
First seen foiling a group of Nazi’s during WWII with the help of his best friend Jack (Philippe Lefebre); it is now 1955 and 0SS 117 (Jean Dujardin) works for the French government. OSS 117 is shown pictures of Jack’s dead body, triggering wistful remembrances of happier times as the two men play together on a beach in a slightly homoerotic way. OSS 117 is sent to Egypt to replace Jack and uncover the dubious practices of the SCEB, The Society of Cows and Egyptian Beef.
OSS 117 is hopelessly naïve; he thinks bringing about peace in the Middle East will be easy; he hands out pictures of the Right-Wing politican Rene Coty as gifts to the locals and dismisses the Muslim religion as a fad. Although a comedy, OSS 117: Cairo Nest of Spies shows how the West underestimated the Muslim world, a mistake which arguably led to some of the problems we face today.
Although critical of certain attitudes present in these movies, OSS 117: Cairo Nest of Spies is free to show things that the producers of the modern Bond films could never get away with. OSS 117 is allowed to smoke for instance, or make the kind of suggestive puns that would earn Daniel Craig a slap. The women in the film, Larmina (Berenice Bejo) and Princess Al Tarouk (Aure Atika) are exasperated and appalled by his stupidity, but like Sean Connery in his prime, they can’t help but fall for him.
Dujardin does the best possible impression of Sean Connery a man can do while speaking French. Dujardin dresses like Connery, moves like Connery, and even manages to copy Connery’s mannerisms and facial expressions. While comedy actors have spoofed Bond before, Mike Myers in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (Jay Roach 1997), Peter Sellers in Casino Royale (Huston/Guest etc 1968), their casting is essentially part of the joke, but Dujardin looks the part.
Due out later this year, under the international release title OSS117: Lost in Rio, the sequel sees OSS 117 travelling to Rio to hunt for Nazi’s hiding out in South America. Set in 1968, the trailer shows France’s greatest spy hanging out with hippies, fighting Mexican wrestlers and attempting to roast a crocodile over a log fire.
OSS 117: Lost in Rio (2009, Michel Hazanavicius)
Jean Bruce’s original novels and the series of films based upon them are straightforward spy thrillers. Director Michel Hazanavicius and Dujardin are more interested in deconstructing the genre and making fun of the political mores and racial attitudes of the day. While the West’s arrogant attitude towards the Middle East was the main target of Cairo Nest of Spies, Lost in Rio aims for General De Gaulle’s post-war rule and his insistence all France resisted the Nazi occupation.
OSS 117 is sent to Rio on a mission to track down a missing microfilm containing the names of French collaborators during the Nazi occupation of France. The main suspect is Nazi war criminal Von Zimmel, played by Wim Wenders favourite Rudi Vogler (Alice in the Cities) and it is fun to see him in a comic role for a change.
Mossad are also on his trail. OSS 117 teams up with a beautiful Isreali agent Dolores (Louise Monot) though his racial insensitivity threatens their relationship. OSS 117: Lost in Rio treads a fine line between being politically incorrect and offensive though the joke is always on OSS 117 and his ridiculous behaviour.
OSS 117: Cairo Nest of Spies borrowed much of its look from the Bond films directed by Terence Young. Lost in Rio also doffs its cap to Bond with a scene directly lifted from Dr No (Terence Young 1962) and also gives OSS 117 a Felix Leiter type CIA buddy in the form of the wonderfully named Bill Trumendous (Ken Samuels). Unlike Bond’s ally, Trumendous hates his fellow spy and makes fun of OSS 117 at every opportunity.
OSS 117: Lost in Rio is not as funny as Cairo Nest of Spies although there are some laugh-out-loud moments, notably OSS 117’s choice of attire for infiltrating a Nazi meeting and an awkward encounter with a male hippie whom Hubert got to know intimately after taking LSD.
Jean Dujardin adds a touch of pathos to his performance as OSS 117. While Cairo Nest of Spies was set in the 50’s, Lost in Rio moves the action forward to 1967. OSS 117’s worldview and his attitudes are out of kilter with the younger generation. There is still plenty of nostalgia on show however, especially in the opening sequence where OSS 117 dances with a room full of 60’s poppets to Dean Martin’s ‘Gentle on my Mind.’
Lucky Luke (2009, James Huth)
The charismatic Jean Dujardin (OSS 117: Lost in Rio) returns to the screen in this entertaining comedy-western. Based on the comic book hero created by Belgian cartoonist Maurice De Bevere, Lucky Luke comes across like a deranged version of HBO’s Deadwood filtered through the inventive sensibility of a Terry Gilliam.
Lucky Luke opens with little John Luke witnessing the murder of his parents in a colourful sequence owing more than a little to the massacre of the rancher and his children in Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West (1967). Director James Huth borrows all of Leone’s tropes; the bad men intruding upon innocence, the wide angled lenses, the close-ups of faces and the jangling Morricone-style soundtrack.
John becomes known as Lucky Luke for being the only survivor the gang ever left behind. Growing up to become the fastest draw in the West, so fast he can outdraw his own shadow, Lucky Luke travels the USA dispensing justice. Lucky Luke never kills his opponents though having sworn to never take another man’s life. Instead he uses his remarkable abilities to disarm or wound criminals then hand them over to the law.
Lucky Luke is prevented from going on a fishing holiday by the President who needs his help cleaning up the lawless Daisy Town. Luke is well familiar with the place having grown up in Daisy Town though he has never been back there since his parents were murdered. Lucky Luke returns to his hometown only to find the devious Pat Poker (Daniel Prevost) is running things.
Lucky Luke must deal with the machinations of Pat Poker and a town full of criminals, not to mention Billy the Kid (Michael Youn) who intends to prove he is the fastest gun in the West. Luke gets support from his old friend Calamity Jane (Sylvie Testud), and Jesse James (Melvil Poupaud) who is adamant no man should be allowed to kill the legendary Lucky Luke except for Jesse James.
Jean Dujardin is a likeable leading man with perfect comic timing and the ability to bring pathos to the characters he plays. Sylvie Testud’s Calamity Jane thankfully owes more to Robin Weigert’s portrayal in Deadwood than the Doris Day version. Poupaud’s narcissistic Jesse James is a wannabe actor with a Shakespearean quote for every gunfight. Star of the show though is Michael Yaun whose hilariously childlike tantrum-throwing Billy the Kid keeps his snacks in his rotating gun belt.
James Huth successfully creates the world of De Bevere and his writer Rene Goscinny’s comic book while also bringing his own idiosyncratic touches to the material. Lucky Luke drags in the middle when our hero hangs up his guns and settles down with a saloon girl, but for the most part is tremendous fun and a must see for fans of the Western genre.
Little White Lies (2010, Guilliame Canet)
Director Guillame Canet's last movie, the ludicrous thriller 'Tell No One’ was wildly over praised, but this French version of a ‘Big Chill’ style reunion is much better. An ensemble piece about a group of friends in their late 30's/early 40's who undergo a crisis after their friend is badly injured, 'Little White Lies' feels like a feature length version of a Cold Feet style TV drama, yet it has enough charm to win the viewer over.
Little White Lies opens with ageing party animal Ludo (Jean Dujardin) in a nightclub. Casting the charismatic Dujardin as Ludo helps give a sense of this character’s larger than life personality in the few minutes he appears onscreen. There is a hint that all is not well with Ludo, and that maybe he is tiring of his wild lifestyle. It’s just a brief moment, but beautifully played by Dujardin who will shortly become an international star whenThe Artist (Michel Hazanavicius 2011) goes on release.
Ludo is left critically injured in an accident and circle of friends are horrified. Not upset enough to cancel their annual summer getaway though. Matters are complicated by Vincent (Benoît Magimel) declaring a crush on restaurateur Max (Francois Cluzet), even though both men are married with children. The others, including Marie (Marion Cotillard), Eric (Gilles Lellouche) and Antoine (Laurent Lafitte) all have their own romantic and personal problems to deal with and matters come to a head during their vacation.
'Little White Lies' is an unashamed crowd-pleaser which may annoy those who expect their foreign films to be artier. Canet aims for the heart and mostly hits the target though he is pushing his luck with a running time of 154 minutes. All the cast make an impression, though Magimel is perhaps the standout as the sexually confused Vincent.
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