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Summary
Lucien, a young boy, loves his father, Jacques, but despises his childish eccentricities,
which include an extravagant clown act. Jacques’ best friend, André, decides
it his time for Lucien to discover the reason for his father’s behaviour. During
World War II, Jacques and Lucien both loved the same woman, Louise. To impress her,
and thereby win her love, the two friends blow up a signal box, their small contribution
to the French Resistance. Shortly afterwards, they are arrested by German
soldiers and thrown into a mud pit with two other men. Unless someone confesses
to the resistance strike, the four men will be shot. Unable to escape, the four
men are cheered by the sight of a friendly German soldier who entertains them with his
impersonation of a clown...
Review
Jacques Villeret and André Dussollier, two of French cinema’s most popular performers,
are reunited for the umpteenth time in this bittersweet morality tale from director Jean
Becker. As in Becker’s earlier film, Les
Enfants du marais, Effroyables jardins is a simple yet moving film, whose
naive cinematographic style subtly emphasises the stark poetry in its narrative.
Villeret and Dussollier, as ever, give great value, making this a particularly poignant
film which most audiences will have little difficulty identifying with.
Although technically well made and overall aesthetically pleasing, the film is not without
its faults. As with many of Becker’s recent films, there is touch of complacency and familiarity
which robs of the film of some of its conviction. At some times early on in the
film, Effroyables jardins feels more like a happy reunion for the cast and production
crew of Les Enfants du marais than an a standalone comedy-drama. Even in
its moments of dramatic tension later on in the film it is quite hard for a spectator
to take the situation seriously and sympathise with the characters.
Yet, in the second half, the film suddenly makes its mark. We suddenly begin to
feel for the characters, to notice in the film’s direct, even clumsy style, a raw humanity
which is becoming increasingly rare in modern cinema. Whereas the first half of
the film may leave you mildly amused but pretty lukewarm, the film’s second half, with
a tone far darker than anything seen in Jean Becker’s work to date, will almost certainly
leave a lasting impression. Rather like the nauseating little boy in the film, you
begin by slightly disliking its author, but, once the story has been told, you have to
look on him with renewed admiration.
It can surely be no coincidence that the film has a strong resonance with Le
Trou, the final film made by Jean Becker’s father, Jacques (the same name as the
main character in the film). But is it also a coincidence that Becker decided to
allow his own son, Louis, to produce the film? Effroyables jardins may not
be the most striking work in Jean Becker’s short filmography but one suspects that it
is, for the director, one which has great personal significance.
© James Travers 2004
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