Micmacs

2009 shenanigans

Rating: 15/20 (Mark: 13/20)

Plot: Bazil, not to be confused with any of the numerous cartoon mice named something that sounds like Bazil, has every reason to hate the companies that manufacture weapons. A land mine killed his father and a stray bullet still lodged in his forehead could kill him at any moment. He ends up homeless until adopted into a family of junkyard-dwelling misfits including an ex-human-cannonball and a contortionist. They're more than willing to help Bazil with his convoluted plan to bring down the weapons manufacturers.

This has a lot in common with Jeunet's City of Lost Children and Amelie but it's not nearly as daring or touching as those. You get some visual thrills, some quirky characters, and the wild imaginative quality of his other movies, but this is a little uneven and at times seems like something that's inspired by those films rather than something made by the same person. Still, there's a great story, and a stylistic impersonation of Jeunet's work is a lot better than an impersonation of something else. I wish there could have been more time spent with the assortment of characters. Bazil even seemed a little on the flat side. Instead, most of the time is spent with the intricate ploys Bazil and his posse invent to enact his revenge. They're goofy as ploys can get, like a cross between Wile E. Coyote and fleshy Rube Goldbergs. They're imaginatively complex. I always like Jeunet's refusal to just stick to a story; the quirky asides, like the rhythmic almost-voyeuristic what's-going-down-in-everybody's-apartment scene in Delicatessen, are maybe the best parts! This has its share, from junkyard gadgetry to a tour of one of the weapons guy's odd collection of historic body parts. And speaking of Delicatessen, there's a neat little nod to that film as well. Despite this film's flaws, I couldn't help digging it.

Special note: Julie Ferrier plays the contortionist. I figured she was a contortionist who could act well, but it turns out she's just an actress who isn't a contortionist at all. An erotic contortionist was used for some of the movements that Ferrier couldn't do.

Another note: The full title of Micmacs which appears on some posters throughout the movie means "Non-Stop Shenanigans" apparently. I'm guessing Micmacs means shenanigans.