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Vidocq
2001 Action / Crime / Fantasy / Thriller
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Credits
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Director: Pitof
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Script: François-Eugène Vidocq, Pitof, Jean-Christophe Grangé, Alexandre Pesle
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Photo: Jean-Pierre Sauvaire, Jean-Claude Thibaut
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Music: Bruno Coulais
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Cast: Gérard Depardieu (Vidocq),
Guillaume Canet (Etienne Boisset),
Inés Sastre (Préah),
André Dussollier (Lautrennes),
Edith Scob (Sylvia),
Moussa Maaskri (Nimier),
Jean-Pierre Gos (Tauzet),
Isabelle Renauld (Marine Lafitte),
Jean-Pol Dubois (Belmont),
André Penvern (Veraldi),
Gilles Arbona (Lafitte),
Jean-Marc Thibault (Leviner),
François Chattot (Froissard)
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Country: France
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Language: French
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Runtime: 100 min
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Aka: Dark Portals: The Chronicles of Vidocq
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Summary
When the eminent Parisian detective Vidocq is killed in strange circumstances, his official
biographer, Etienne Boisset, sets himself the task of tracking down his murderer.
Before his death, Vidocq was in pursuit of a mysterious alchemist who, it was believed,
killed three powerful men with artificial lightning. As Boisset’s investigation
continues, it begins to appear that someone is following him. Each person he encounters
dies brutally after speaking to him…
Review
Definitely one for the Lara Croft generation. Not so much a film as a spectacular
collage of special effects loosely assembled into an implausible, incoherent storyline.
Whilst the film undoubtedly breaks new ground with its use of digital technology (made
possible by the latest high-definition digital cameras), it fails spectacularly as a piece
of cinema. Anyone who is not put off by the excessively flashy special effects and
the gratuitously visceral murders will most probably struggle to find any satisfaction
in either the acting performances (which are at best uninspired) or the story (which would
be an insult to the intelligence of a particularly retarded ten year old child).
In fact the film can only appeal to those who have next to no appreciation of the aesthetics
of cinema and/or are addicted to seriously violent computer games (and consequently don’t
have much contact with the real world). The film’s director, Pitof, followed
this with the even more risible Catwoman (2004),
conclusive proof that special effects gurus rarely make the grade as serious film directors.
© James Travers 2004
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