If you were to ask me what my two favourite movies of all time were, and I’m just going to go straight ahead and assume you did, I would say Amelie and Raiders of the Lost Ark are right up there. So when I saw the tube posters for The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec were describing the film as a combination of those two movies, I immediately sought out a cinema showing it, looking forward to a mix of whimsical French humour and bullwhips; and for the most part it doesn’t disappoint, apart from of course the complete lack of bullwhips. Adele Blanc-Sec is a highly entertaining French film based on a popular comic by Jaques Tardi, set mostly in Paris 1912. The plot goes thus; popular travel writer Adele Blanc-Sec must find and then resurrect an ancient Egyptian mummy who hopefully has the medical knowledge needed to save her comatose sister, also a 150 million year old pterodactyl egg has hatched and is causing trouble around the streets of Paris.
So the plot is completely bonkers, but it’s loads of fun so it never really matters. Writer and director Luc Besson keeps the mood light and the plot full of adventure, the film moves at a quick pace and very rarely stops for a break. The attention to detail in the costume and production design jumps out from the screen and creates a really evocative mood of pre-world war one Paris, also the film contains a rather brilliant range of moustaches! The camera work is quirky and very cinematic, taking a huge leaf out of the Jean Pierre Jeunet book of film making. Besson’s script is snappy and very funny, full of visual jokes and quick dialogue.
Besson intentionally sets up a wide number of seamingly random narrative threads held together by a voice over narration, which then slowly come together as the story unfolds. The only problem is, it takes what can feel like forever for the plot to reveal itself and this only makes the story appear slightly thin until questions are finally answered and plot points linked. Besson also desperately needs a second set of scissors to have a look at the edit, both un-even in pace and over long. All of these issues though are held together by Louise Bourgoin’s performance as Adele Blanc-Sec. She brings a huge amount of charm to the character, makes her strong but breezy, and kooky but completely grounded. Mathieu Amalric also shines as the villainous Dieuleveult, but I bet he never thanked the make up department for his appearance!
After much thought I would say charming would be the best word to describe The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec, from the pre-First World War Paris location to Madam Blanc-Sec herself; I really enjoyed watching and being apart of this interesting, funny and most charming world. The last scene sets the film up for a sequel, which I hope Luc Besson goes ahead and puts into production soon because I can’t wait to see more of Adele Blanc-Sec’s adventures.
Will Pomd.
