REVIEW:
by Sharif Gemie
Blanche
Bernie Bonvoisin. FR 2002.
Produced by:
Luc Besson (co-producer, Philippe Rousselet (producer)
Screenplay: Bernie Bonvoisin
Cinematography by: Bernard Cavalié
Cast:
Lou Doillon (Blanche de Peronne),
Roschdy Zem (Bonange),
Antoine de Caunes (Le capitaine KKK),
Jean Rochefort (Mazarin),
Carole Bouquet (Anne d'Autriche),
José Garcia (Louis XIV),
Antoine Basler (L'étranger),
Pierre LaPlace (Nez-de-Braise),
Albert Dray (Doryphore),
Miguel Borrás (Don Pablo),
Gérard Depardieu (D'Artagnan),
Daniel Benoin (M. de Péronne),
Chick Ortega (Kildefer),
Isabelle Obispo (Solange),
Amel Djemel (Madame Chetane),
Marc Lavoine (Tesmoulenes),
Valérie Steffen (Madame Arnouna),
Roger Lumont (Le cardinal Pompini),
Sybille Claudel (La duchesse Prokofievitch),
Sophie Noël (La comtesse Valentinovitch),
Stéphane Gildas (Aramis),
Patrick Messe (Athos),
Marc Rioufol (Porthos),
Dominique Besnehard (Le duc),
Vincent Martinez (La duchesse),
Alvaro Luna Porras (Leder),
Luis Miguel Hurtado (Tomaso),
Pascal Guégan (Le noble marche),
Philippe Lazoore (Le géant),
Bénédicte Loyen (La prostituée à l'auberge),
Albert Goldberg (Homme Blanche 1),
Gaëlle Cohen (Homme Blanche 2),
Yves Nadot (Le fermier),
Valérie Renaud (La fermière),
Isabelle Lardin (La fille dans la chambre du roi),
Selma El Mouissi (Blanche enfant)
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Production Management:
François-Xavier Decraene (production manager), Philippe Morlier (unit manager)
Production Design: Olivier Seiler
Assistant Director:
Sophie Berger Forestier (second assistant director), Brieuc Vanderswalm (second assistant director), Jérôme Zajdermann (first assistant director)
Art Department:
Philippe Bonnard (property master), Antoine Galinié (property master), Pascal Peignet (assistant art director)
Costume Design:
Adélaïde Gosselin, Mimi Lempicka
Makeup Department:
Véronique Boitout (key hair stylist), John Nollet (key hair stylist), Sophie Pré (makeup artist), Agnès Tassel (key makeup artist), Françoise Tolila (makeup artist), Estelle Toustoukine (hair stylist)
Sound Department:
Michel Brethez (sound), Philippe Escanecrabe (sound mixer), Patrice Grisolet (sound editor), Joël Rangon (sound mixer)
Other crew:
Olivia Bruynoghe (script supervisor), Laurent Didier (assistant camera)
Review:
Blanche
by Sharif Gemie, University of Glamorgan
The plot: the film starts with a bloody, graphic portrayal of repression of Protestants. A very young girl survives a bloodbath. The film is very loosely the story of her revenge.
It has very little sense of history, but plenty of fight scenes. There is a caricatural portrayal of Louis XIV: quite funny. A bit about sexual / moral corruption at court, but all done in a knock-about way.
Perhaps, culturally, the most interesting aspect of the film is the decision to make use of `Western' cliches - bar-room fights, shoot-outs, acoustic bottleneck blues - to depict 17th century conflicts.
Antoine de Caunes does his best to act, but his efforts are wasted.
But, overall, this is a very simple action film: little plot, little historical awareness, lots of violence, some of it quite graphic - really nothing that one could use for students.
A clear fail.