Historical drama by Maïwenn, 1h56
Before our eyes, Versailles. It’s a box. It’s a jail. It took him a long time to get there. Jeanne Vaubernier, this name means nothing to anyone. It is also pronounced Comtesse du Barry. There, the mines light up. History continues to amaze everyone. It is not Maïwenn who will claim the opposite, she who has been thinking about this biopic for seventeen years. The wait was worth it. Jeanne du Barry is a complete show. We will therefore follow from A to Z the trajectory of this feminist before the letter. Louis XV turns her into a favourite. This causes teeth grinding. The film fills the hopes. Its main virtue is not to smell dust. Sumptuous sets, 35 millimeters, chiade reconstruction, Maïwenn did not make fun of people. The choice of Johnny Depp undoubtedly lends itself to discussion. Fat as a capon, a kind of soft monster, struggling to hide his American accent, he sometimes seems to wonder if he doesn’t wake up in the middle of a costume party in a New York club. The result is brilliant, with the most pleasing effect. Maïwenn deserves the applause of the assembled court. We’ll have to call her Jeanne from now on. IN.
Action film by Louis Leterrier, 2h21
The X in the title could be a stop sign. Vin Diesel returns for the umpteenth time in the skin of Dom Toretto, an ace driver coupled with an eternal Cincinnatus cast in asphalt. He has the rare verb; it’s already too much. The brood of an ancient enemy threatens his loved ones. The plot, few will be surprised, smacks of canker. Between two cameos, explosive swerves follow one another on postcards. Here is Italy, here is Portugal; between the two, Rio. It could be the asphalt union of an Expendables for all audiences and with a Mission Impossible in which caper cars would have started to ape the pirouettes of Tom Cruise. There is, however, spectacle in this mind-numbing sum of almost two and a half hours. Seeing Rome’s landmarks battered by roaring norias and a mopping bomb is wickedly exhilarating. Jason Momoa rejoices as a whimsical buffoon with mannered sadism. It’s not the highway of boredom, but a grand puppet boulevard. Furious ? No way. But pomp? Certainly. S.C.
Comedy drama by Slony Sow, 1h31
Umami is a film that leaves a bittersweet taste in your mouth. First film endearing in many ways, but which also drags its share of clumsiness and pans, this “drama” still has the big flaw of floating between two waters. Umami features a prestigious starred chef embodied by Gérard Depardieu. On the verge of depression and a nervous breakdown, Gabriel Gavin is nevertheless given a third star, while his relationship with Sandrine Bonnaire is seriously floundering. He decides to drop everything to search for the secret of this legendary fifth flavor: umami. He lands in Tokyo as Obélix lands on the shores of the New World. Slony Sow does not spare its effects. The odyssey could have been gargantuan, extravagant. She is sad as the figure of Depardieu crushes everything else. The Japanese chef he so ardently seeks cannot exist in the face of our national “Gégé”. The film finally gives off the impression of having attended a documentary about Gérard Depardieu discovering Japan. A bit like when Sofia Coppola films Bill Murray in Lost in Translation. It’s sometimes quite funny and even touching. But that’s not enough to make a film taste unforgettable. O.D.
À lire aussiNotre critique d’Umami: Depardieu, «Lost in translation»