French cinema is full of comedies and the French give it back, because they are fond of them. As proof, in the top 30 of the first films of the French box office, out of the 12 French films present (Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis, Intouchables, la Grande Vadrouille …), only 1 is not a comedy: Les Misérables by Jean Paul Le Chanois from 1957.Last week, on June 15, 2016, an "adventure" comedy was released in theaters: The Law of the Jungle directed by Antonin Peretjatko. If it is a bet that it will not be one of those that shatter the records, given its absurd and crazy humor that goes beyond the classic framework of the genre, this film will nevertheless be the favorite of many spectators. Anyway, it is ours.
The law of the jungle or the story of an epic workshop (… an internship what!)
This is the story of an intern from the Ministry of Standards, in metropolitan France, who comes to check the construction of an indoor ski resort, in the middle of the Guyanese jungle, so that it is done in good conditions.The simple statement of the project sets the tone for the whole film: "A complete delirium!». Throughout it will be a question of oscillating dangerously between alienation and exaltation.
If the law of the Jungle is also a satire of the French administration, of the current economic system, while implicitly addressing the environmental issue, these themes are never brought in a heavy way. These are more points to meditate, at the exit of the room. They always remain of the order of the wink. Indeed, the film remains above all an absurd comedy, where the characters live totally crazy adventures. From the scenes with the animals, to the scene of the speech, between the trainee and the senior official, who sends him on the "Guyaneige" project, to the tax inspector who tirelessly pursues the protagonist of the film, everything is done so that the viewer never stops laughing.
Even if it means tiring him? Even if it means losing rhythm? Some confreres seem to think so. Although it is obvious that when it comes to comedy, it is rare to be able to please everyone, this criticism is to be minimized in view of the festive atmosphere that the room showed, from the beginning to the end of the screening.
One director, one universe
Our world is "an absurd world whose meaning is not understood, or at least I do not understand it." This is how Antonin Peretjatko reveals his vision of the world and allows us to understand a little more, why, his taste for "absurd" comedies. A genre that has become his signature: already with his first feature film The Girl of July 14, 3 years earlier, and today again with the Law of the Jungle. Antonin Peretjatko belongs to this new generation of directors that has been highlighted by Les Cahiers du Cinéma. Among them: Justine Triet with her film "The Battle of Solferino" (2013) or Guillaume Brac with "A World Without a Woman" (2011).
For this second feature film, the director wanted a more ambitious, better written comedy. And it is the ambition of a larger production that led him to emigrate, him, his humor and his camera, in the middle of the Guyanese jungle. The dialogues and the structure of the film (sequence shot, repetitions of the same montage …) are the tools he uses brilliantly so that the spectator with a haggard eye, a smile on his lips contemplates, for 1h 30, this delirious universe.When we talk about an artistic work, immediately comes the question of influences. At first glance, given the geographical context and the humour, a comparison with the adventure comedies of Philipe de Broca (L'homme de rio- 1964 or the magnificent- 1973), intrudes into our minds. In addition, the trailer of The Law of the Jungle looks like an anaphora, reversed, of the opening scene of A bout de souffle (1960) by J-L Godard with J-P Belmondo (see video below).
However, the director denies it. According to him, it is the exotic place that gives this impression to the viewer. He feels more influenced by Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton or the couple Terence Hill and Buds Spencer. That is to say, a humor that is more in the bodies. The comic gesture is highlighted. One passage from the film is very emblematic of this humorous vision. It's a scene of a saloon fight in the middle of the jungle, where the character named Tarzan (played by Vimala Pons), never stops fighting. This moment of "Western Jungle" makes us laugh by its outrageous length, which reminds us of the scenes of "fighting" in Two super-cops (1977), or for the youngest the slap scene in Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra (2002).
- Talented actors: A DUO of choice
The body must be a tool to convey the comic aspect, however it is also the means to push actors to perform. The choice of Guyana is not trivial. Antonin Peretjatko wanted natural settings that a contrario special effects influence the way of filming and acting. In addition, he wanted a more ambitious film where he could go further with the duo Pons – Macaigne, with whom he had already worked in The Girl of July 14.These two actors have been the face of French independent films for some time. Both talented and eclectic (circus actress for one, theater for the other) in a singular way, they also form an extremely powerful and twisting filmic "couple".
Indeed, with these two characters at opposite ends, Vincent Macaigne and Vimala Pons interact wonderfully well. He, as usual in his previous films, plays an unsuitable and sheepish character. A metropolitan who finds himself lost in a jungle in a suit and tie, computer and Code of European Standards in hand. He plays to perfection this left and shy being who will mature during the journey … during the Internship. She, although sometimes very sexualized (mini shorts, suggestive position …), is far from these stereotypical and fearful female characters at the slightest snake, or the slightest mud spot. She is an adventurer with the nickname "Tarzan". What is striking about this actress is her acting, as well as the ambiguity in her own presence. That is to say, there is a hiatus between her sad eyes (point that brings her closer to the character of V. Macaigne) and the malice that hides there and that goes hand in hand with the liveliness of his gestures. This hiatus reinforces the zany side of his character and by extension of the work itself.At their side, many actors who share their talent amplifies the delirium of the film as well as its quality. We can find a Pascal Légitimus (the three brothers: The return, 2014) very fit; a nervous and expressive Mathieu Amalric who reminds us of his collaborations with Arnaud Desplechin (Comment je se disputé – 1996 and Rois et Reines – 2004), or more recently with Roman Polanski in Venus in Fur (2013). Less famous, but just as effective, the characters played by Jean-Luc Bideau (And tenderness? Brothel! – 1979, H – 1998 to 2002) with a warm and tender voice, as well as the zany Fred Tousch who seems to play with this humor, both in the theater (Maitre Fendard) and in the cinema.
The Law of the Jungle is a film that makes you laugh by its fantasy that has no equal in the French humorous genre. Wacky and crazy, Antonin Peretjatko managed to put coherence in all this gap.
