Jessica Alba

by Kieron – ReelLoop.com

Jessica Alba is to re-unite with Robert Rodriguez in a film based on a series of Belgian graphic novels. Whilst the pair first teamed on the cinematic adaptation of Frank Miller’s Sin City, they are now to respectively star in and produce a big screen version of The Insiders. The director’s chair will, somewhat excitingly, go to Mabrouk el Mechri whose last film, the post modern action flick JCVD, somehow made Jean Claude Van Damme not only relevant again but, unexpectedly, an art-house darling.

   The Insiders focuses on the character Najah Cruz, a “Colombian who is as deadly as she is beautiful.” Armed with the weapons skills of James Bond Cruz must, according to icv2, “infiltrate a worldwide mafia-like organization composed of businessmen and politicians” to become the bodyguard of the organization’s leader.

   The Insiders marks one of many projects Alba has lined up at the moment. Alongside her role in the Meet The Fockers sequel, the erstwhile Dark Angel is set to appear in An Invisible Sign of My Own, Machete and Michael Winterbottom’s The Killer Inside Me.

Amazon Specials!

La actriz Jessica Alba anunció que estará produciendo la nueva cinta Insiders, que ella misma protagonizará, y que comenzará a filmarse el próximo año. La historia, basada en un cómic no muy conocido, narra las aventuras de una agente colombiana que se infiltra a un grupo de narcotraficantes, para tratar de desbaratar la operación desde el interior. Contra lo que se pensaba, el  director no será Robert Rodriguez – que está realizando la producción junto con ella – sino Mabrouk El Mechri, aunque el resto del elenco no ha sido aún delimitado.

Jessica Alba sure does love comic-books, or at least she loves playing comic-book roles. The geek-friendly one, who previously starred in Sin City and The Fantastic Four, has signed up to play Najah Cruz, in the big-screen adaptation of Belgian comic The Insiders.

Alba is such a big fan of this particular series that she has invested a large amount of her own money in getting the movie rights. The story follows Cruz, who is a undercover Columbian operative with exceptional combat skills and weapon prowess. The White House sends her to infiltrate a international secret cartel of businessmen and politicians, by becoming bodyguard to the organisations leaders.

It all sounds a lot like the plot of most international spy-thrillers, particularly the recent James Bond movies. So are we looking at a female Bond or something more akin to Alias. Certainly Alba is no stranger to espionage, having starred in the career-defining James Cameron TV series Dark Angel as a government project on the run. This series proved she could do action, and while the Fantastic Four movies were poor, this could well be a return to form for the lads-mag favourite.

The series itself is relatively unknown, but the Belgian’s are huge comic-book fans, having given the world Tin-Tin and the Smurfs. I had the privilege of visiting their comic-book museum in Brussels, and while it’s no Midtown Comics in New York, it is a wonderful exhibit to the art of these graphic designs.

Sin City director, Robert Rodriguez, is set to produce the movie, with JCvD director Mabrouk El Mechri attached to direct. There’s no start date as yet, but by the sounds of it, it should be ready to start shooting soon, for a probable 2011 release. Definitely worth keeping an eye on.

Apparantly Jessica Alba is heading back to her Dark Angel roots as she will star in an adaptation of the Insiders, a series of Belgian graphic novels published by Dargaud.

Alba herself put up the money to buy the rights along with Robert Rodriguez, who will be producing this as well.

French-Algerian filmmaker Mabrouk El Mechri (JCVD which is a great film), is now attached to direct this project.

I’ve not heard of the comic book by Jean-Claude Bartoll. However it debuted back in 2002, and follows Najah Cruz, “a Columbian who is as deadly as she is beautiful. She has the weapons expertise and combat skills of a James Bond. At the secret request of the White House she infiltrates a worldwide mafia-like organization composed of businessmen and politicians and becomes the bodyguard of the organization’s leader.”

How does that grab you. Pretty cool I say. It also sounds like the comic book, Sleeper, but with no superpowers.

What do we have then – a cool comic book concept, a director who does things a bit differently and Jessica Alba. At the minute I am thinking Alba is the weak link in this one as many of the parts she has played recently are a bit…naff. Mind you she is starring in The Killer Inside Me and she did do the kick ass stuff back in James Cameron’s Dark Angel TV show. Plus she is easy on the eye. Hmm, maybe this might just work.

What do you think?

Amazon UK – Insiders Vol.1: Chechen Guerilla
Amazon USA – Insiders Vol.1: Chechen Guerrilla

Source: Pajiba

JCVD – Nessuna giustizia è un film uscito nel 2008, la regia è di Mabrouk El Mechri, e Jean-Claude Van Damme è il protagonista.

Leggi altre notizie su: | Drammatico | Mabrouk El Mechri | Jean-Claude Van DammeFrançois Damiens

Are you ready? Yesterday many readers will have felt that their soul had been dirtied by my review of the guilt pleasure classic Forces of Nature.  Well today i am going to go one worst than that and review a Jean Claude Van Damme film.  Admittedly I am reviewing his only socially acceptable film JCVD but I still feel a little dirty in doing so.  Before i begin i would like to clarify a couple of things.  Firstly, even though this film is acceptable, it in no way exhonerates Mr Van Damme for his crimes to cinema. In fact he deserves a whole wing in Guantanamo Bay where he can be tortured repeatedly for 30 years for what he has done.  Secondly, one good film does not = a good actor.  Those who believed that his performance was oscar worthy (such as Time Magazine) are severely exaggerating how good a performance this was.  When compared to his other work the film is like watching Usain Bolt instead of Rick Waller in the 100 meters.  However, one good performance rarely equals an Oscar and certainly does not mean your a great actor. With those points clarified we shall begin.

JCVD follows Mr Van Damme, a washed up out of work former star returning to his home Brussels.  After being adored by every person he meets, Van Damme goes to the post office to temporarily solve his financial problems.  While in the post office he finds himself caught up in a hostage situation.  The police believe he is a conspirator; in fact he is actually working to help save the hostages.

The description makes the film sound like a watered down typical piece of Van Damme rubbish.  However the film is very different from anything he has made before.  The film has all the qualities of a high value European art film.  The production values are very high (a rarity in Van Damme’s career).  When the film is in French it does not look as though they are speaking some highly developed alien language where your mouth moves and then words come out 20 seconds later.  The characters actually have a depth and are not just superficial dolls repeating lines when a string with cash at the end is pulled.

Rightfully the plaudits have focus on Mr Van Damme. He adds depth to a character you would never have believed he could do.  Inevitably the character is a reflection of himself.  You can’t help but believe that he is heavily drawing on the lows of his own career and the frustration and emotion associated with that.  You also get the indications that his mental health problems allowed him to flesh out the confusion exhibited periodically.  There is little to fault with his performance.  It is delightfully different, exciting exhilarating but a little surreal.  There is a real sense that he is searching for legitimacy and respect.  Understandable emotions to feel.  But the film does descend into moments where you sense this is purely to exhibit the actor he could have been rather than the character he is in the film.

Director Mabrouk El Mechri is the man who deserves greater adulation than the film’s star.  His expert direction is what makes Van Damme look as good as he does.  The cinematography is exquisite giving a film a real and yet strangely modern feel.  Excellent directorial touches such as the way the film cuts into the story from different angles adds something different and innovative.  Possibly his finest achievement is the fact that he makes you believe that this is perfectly real.  You leave the cinema questioning which Hollywood actor could become embroiled in a similar drama because of the choices they have made in the career.

Overall this is delightful film and is one of the most unusual films you are likely to see on DVD.  Van Damme is good but he is playing himself at his worst.  He is not creating a character.  He is the character. Director Mabrouk El Mechri is a huge talent.  His career deserves to fly after this.  My only word of warning is be prepared for the odd moment of show boating.  The film is about and stars a man whose career has been horrible.  This is his redemption and he certainly makes sure you know it.

Overall – 7/10 Slick

När Steven Seagal bestämmer sig för att klippa av hästsvansen får han helt plötsligt alla stora actionroller, vilket gör att den forne hjälten Jean-Claude van Damme både blir arbetslös och pank. Med en kostsam rättstvist om vårdnaden till sitt barn går livet allt annat än väl för van D. Han bestämmer sig för att fly från Hollywood till hemlandet Belgien för att börja om på ny kula. Nyss hemkommen uträttar han ett bankärende när allt går fel. Plötsligt befinner sig actionhjälten i ett gisslandrama och tvingas bevisa hurdan hjälte han egentligen är.

I JCVD spelar alltså van Damme sig själv. Det låter vrickat, men genom att inleda filmen med en fruktansvärt påfrestande actionsekvens med en van D på hugget känner man fort igen vår hjälte. Han sparkas och slåss samtidigt som explosioner och skott viner kring öronen, men när scenen når sin ände ramlar en kuliss ihop och hela scenen måste därför filmas om. En hårdknackad japansk regissör vill göra hela scenen i en tagning, vilket van D med sin ringa ålder 47 inte är direkt förtjust i. Alltså avväpnas tuffingen redan i introt. Han är inte oslagbar. Han är bara gammal och trött.

Och van D är väldigt trött. Han verkar missnöjd över det mesta och ser sig själv som en storstjärna världen är på väg att förlora. Det är i alla fall hur jag tolkar hans egna confession-scene som kommer framåt slutet, vilket för övrigt är ett av filmens främsta ögonblick. Där visar van D att han faktiskt klarar av skådespel. På riktigt.

Mer action än introt blir det inte, även om gisslandramat medför en del spänning. I själva verket är handlingen rätt ointressant i grunden, men genom att visa det i okronologisk ordning byggs ändå en viss spänning upp. Tanken är att man ska känna för van D, men jag tycker inte riktigt det är så lätt.

Man kan säga så här: Halva filmen handlar om van Damme och hans livssituation medan andra halvan handlar om gisslandramat. Regissören Mabrouk El Mechri försöker väva samman de båda ändarna, men som jag ser det blir det för ofokuserat. Man har inte riktigt koll på vad som händer och varför, även om de flesta scener kräver att man har det. I slutändan sitter jag mest och undrar vad filmen egentligen vill säga. Att van D inte är nöjd med att ha blivit placerat i actionfacket och vill visa upp sig som dramakille förstår man ganska fort, men är det allt? I så fall räcker det inte hela vägen.

Dock är den en kul idé, som inte alls är tråkig att se på. Återigen, van Damme kan.

Betyg: Tre pladd

© Vanessa Paradis par Mondino

© J.B. Mondino
Album “divine idylle” 2008

Albums CD de Vanessa Paradis :
Marilyn et John (1988)
Variations sur le même t’aime (1990) – produit par Serge Gainsbourg
Vanessa Paradis (1992) – produit par Lenny Kravitz
Bliss (2000)
Au zenith (2001)
Divine idylle (2007) – produit par Mathieu Chedid “M”

Vanessa Paradis au cinéma :
Noce blanche (1989 -Jean-Claude Brisseau)
Elisa (1995 – Jean Becker)
Un amour de sorcière (1997 – René Manzor)
1 chance sur 2 (1998 – Patrice Leconte)
La Fille sur le pont (1999 – Patrice Leconte)
Mon ange (2005 – Serge Frydman)
La Clef (2007 – Guillaume Nicloux)
et prochainement, “Sage femme” de Mabrouk el Mechri

JCVD is a fictious biographical movie about Jean-Claude Van Damme, starring the man himself, directed by Mabrouk El Mechri.

Plot:
Jean-Claude Van Damme (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is a washed-up action star. He only gets parts in movies he doesn’t actually want to make, and often loses them to Steven Seagal. His personal life is in ruins, too: He’s fighting for the custody of his child, he has no money and things seem to be closing in on him. When he decides to go back to Brussels to take a break and go for a fresh start, he gets caught up in a robbery of the post office – and the police think he’s the one doing it.

JCVD is an astonishing movie. Not only are you surprised that Jean-Claude Van Damme can act, it’s also nice to see that he doesn’t take himself too seriously. But none of this would have been possible without Mabrouk El Mechri, who wrote a phenomenal script and shot the movie in a way that treats Van Damme with sensitivity and respect, but makes a little fun of him, too.

I have to be honest – there was a time when I very much loved one Jean-Claude Van Damme movie. Don’t ask me why, I honestly don’t know – it’s not that I usually like this kind of movies nor that it was especially good. But somehow, I liked it. And then the stories of Van Damme beating up his wife (or girlfriend?) and that one infamous video where he gets a hard-on during a dance on live TV… well let’s put it that way – that took something important from the man and the movies.

Anyway, I thought, “here’s the chance for him to ‘redeem’ himself - let’s give him that. And maybe I can even watch that one movie again and not feel bad about it. Or probably not.”

And boy, did he prove himself or what?! The whole movie focusses completely on him and he’s always there, giving the performance of his lifetime. The – already much talked about – 6-minutes-one-shot monologue is more emotional (and honest) than all his prior movies combined, but also in the other scenes he’s just very present.

But as I said before, it’s not only Van Damme being the best he ever was, it’s also Mabrouk El Mechri. His script is great – full of warmth and humour (like when the police officer says: “Central to Unit 27. Jean-Claude Van Damme’s robbing a post office. I need back-up.”), but also honest and full of action.

The narrative is not chronological, but that fits the whole thing very well – and the structure is really good. It never gets confusing.

Mechri obviously is a Tarantino fan (there’s chapters and the achronological structure), but he does his own thing and not just copies him. I have to admit that I loved his directing from the first scene, where Van Damme shoots a movie in Hong Kong and there’s this really long action scene, basically the duration of the opening credits, 5 minutes at least. And it’s (apparently) all in one shot. Loved that.

There’s a lot of long shots, though he usually moves with the camera, so it never seems too static. [And I'm a fan of long shots anyway.]

The only thing I have to criticise here is that there’s some wobbly hand-held camera, which I thought unnecessary.

Another thing I have to point out, which was very well done, was the switch between point of views. We see some scenes twice, but it never really feels that way because the camera angle changes and also, the point where they start and end.

So, altogether I’d say that this movie was a full success and is really recommended.

Em 1988, o diretor francês Mabrouk el Mechri tinha 12 anos. Taí uma informação essencial para entender este JCVD (7/10). Aposto que poucos meninos de 12 anos, em 1988, passaram à margem do efeito provocado por O grande dragão branco — uma fita de luta provavelmente muito vagabunda (mas deixe-a em paz nas minhas lembranças, ok? Eu tinha dez anos e lutava karatê) que fez do belga Jean-Claude Van Damme um astro de ação. Nas entrelinhas, JCVD documenta o reencontro entre o ídolo decadente e o fã antigo — 20 anos depois.

O ídolo belga, quase cinquentão, enfrentou dezenas de fracassos e abandonado pela multidão de cruéis meninos de 12 anos, se exilou na indústria dos filmes B. Enquanto isso, o fã trocou o kickboxer por Jean-Luc Godard (é ele quem diz, não eu!) e Charlie Kaufman. JCVD resulta desse esbarrão: um meta-filme-de-roubo com Van Damme no papel de Van Damme. Numa videolocadora imaginária, ocuparia a prateleira das autoficções, na companhia de Filmefobia, Entre os muros da escola e um videoclipe do Eminem.

Há um certo excesso de piadas para cinéfilos (a melhor delas: Van Damme é reconhecido acima de tudo como o sujeito que convenceu John Woo a filmar nos Estados Unidos), mas o cineasta sai pela tangente quando joga com a frágil imagem pública do astro. Mesmo quando o filme parece um portfólio endereçado a Quentin Tarantino, deixa transparecer um olhar emotivo, franco, de menino de 12 anos. O que aconteceu com nosso herói de ação? Um monólogo de seis minutos — sobre filmes vagabundos, escolhas equivocadas e dias estranhos — resume a ópera.

I saw this oddball crime film by Mabrouk El Mechri a few weeks ago, and I am still haunted by it. I have never been a fan of Jean-Claude Van Damme or his movies, so this comes to me as a surprise. I didn’t quite know what to expect. A documentary? A biopic? What I ended up getting was a strangely poignant portrait of a man who is nothing like the ubermensch he plays in the movies.

Here JCVD plays himself, desperate and filled with doubt. His career has long since devolved into a joke. Age is catching up to him. He is in the middle of a custody battle for his daugher. And as the film unfolds, Van Damme is caught in the middle of a hostage crisis, an ordinary man stripped bare of action hero conceits and hollywood bravado. He finds himself stuck in an entirely different film genre. DOG DAY AFTERNOON through Charlie Kaufman colored glasses.

JCVD is a well-rounded film. The gray, downcast tones of this movie are counterbalanced by subtle comedic moments. During the course of the film, he answers to the crime of celebrity. He endures a courtroom cross-examination featuring an absurdly long list of filmic atrocities that make him an unfit father. And he also suffers the fanboy gushings of one of his captors. He is taken to his lowest point and dropped into a crisis, and it is beautiful. The film’s centerpiece is JCVD’s six-minute long soliloquy at the end of the film’s second act. He is magically lifted into the rafters, revealing the edges of a film set. He talks directly to the audience. I’ve heard complaints about this scene taking viewers out of the story. While I understand their point, I also understand how meta and how autobiographical this work of fiction really is. Van Damme is breaking the fourth wall, but he’s doing it IN CHARACTER. And this is what makes it work for me. It’s a Shakespearean aside. It’s not JCVD winking at the camera; it’s more like he’s saying, this may be a movie, but this uncomfortable mess is also ME.

“JCVD”

Directed by

Mabrouk El Mechri

Screenplay by

Frédéric Bénudis
Mabrouk El Mechri
Christophe Turpin

[JCVD trailer here.]

If the idea of a postmodern film about the nature of celebrity in which Jean-Claude Van Damme plays himself as a pathetic aging action star who is caught up in a real life heist situation interests you in the least, you should watch this film before it ends its run at ACMI this Wednesday. It is worth the effort.The film opens with an effortlessly entertaining one-take action scene which plays out like an amalgamation of the comedy of True Lies and the bravura setpiece in the detention centre at the end of Children of Men. It certainly proves that the director Mabrouk El Mechri could make a straightforward action flick standing on his head. But El Mechri has more cerebral intentions. The film is centred on a “real-life” hostage situation in Brussels, the hometown of JCVD. He accidentally becomes involved, at which point the film devolves into a series of flashbacks, some painting a picture of JCVD’s star persona; custody battles, career compromises and drug addiction; while others show another facet of the siege situation. Often the film spends time with ordinary people on the street ruminating on what JCVD means to them. It’s funny, quick witted and well-directed.

It’s also very smart. Mechri acknowledges that the version of JCVD presented in this film is as much a construct as the characters that JCVD plays in his action films and he plays around with this idea with a few cinematic tricks borrowed from the French New Wave. The film’s most audacious moment has JCVD floating above the set, giving an emotionally-wrought monologue on his life and career direct-to-camera. It’s actually astounding how well Van Damme comes of as an actor – he plays this scene completely straight and sincerely even if the director doesn’t.

Besides spending a bit too much time with the conventional hostage story, there are not too many missteps here. I only had the nagging feeling that there was something missing here: Other comparable movies that deconstruct celebrities usually have a particular angle to their critique. Being John Malkovich was about queer sexuality and ego as much as it was about Malkovich himself. Irma Vep is about French cultural insularism and globalisation as much as it is about Maggie Cheung. JCVD flirts with some interesting ideas – the ideology of action films, the celebrity as transnational commodity – but never interrogates these ideas satisfyingly. El Mechri deconstructs JCVD and underneath there is nothing but JCVD. Still, even if it’s not quite able to bring that little bit extra to the postmodernist table, JCVD is an awesome achievement. I see that El Mechri’s directorial career could go two ways: He could become more the kickass action director or more the kickass experimental director. It will certainly be interesting to see where he ends up.

SEE THIS WITH:

Irma Vep, (Oliver Assayas, 1996)

A classic film director decides to remake classic silent French film Les Vampires but with Hong Kong Action star Maggie Cheung in the lead. All sorts of pressures and politics and egos cause the project to unravel.

Being John Malkovich, (Spike Jonze, 1999)

Jean-Claude Van Damme

JCVD is one of the most unexpected films of the past few years. For a start who would have expected that the 1980s and 1990s martial arts action superstar Jean-Claude Van Damme would ever make a comeback? Who would have expected that the comeback would take the form of a Belgian art-house film influenced by Sidney Lumet’s 1975 hostage drama Dog Day Afternoon? Who would have expected that the resulting film would be so good? Finally, who would have honestly thought that Van Damme would give such an amazing performance, making his comeback one to rival Micky Rourke’s in The Wrestler?

Directed by Mabrouk El Mechri, JCVD is an extraordinary film that truly defies categorisation. A lot of its humour and references rely on the audience having some knowledge and interest in action cinema and yet the film itself is more of a drama/thriller. Having said that, the opening credits sequence is an astonishing long shot featuring Van Damme in full action mode as a one-man army. The shot is obviously a staged sequence and yet it is still very exciting, demonstrating the enticing contradictions that comprise JCVD.  The whole film is self-aware without ever feeling like a parody or overly self-conscious and yet it is so cinematically playful. It also messes around with narrative structure, having the middle section of the story appear in the film before the first section. This mainly serves to create the early dramatic tension in JCVD, where Van Damme, who is burdened by all sorts of personal and professional problems, appears to have snapped and held up a post office in Brussels.

Just as John Malkovich did in Being John Malkovich and Steve Coogan did in A Cock and Bull Story (also known as Tristram Shandy) Van Damme plays a version of himself in JCVD. However, unlike Malkovich and Coogan, the version of himself that Van Damme plays does not feel like that much of a self-caricature. He is a tired man who is feeling his age and cannot get the parts that he used to. He is also aware that his career has not exactly been a distinguished one and that he is forever burdened by the way both his fans and detractors perceive him. The key scene in JCVD is an extraordinary continuous shot where the illusion of reality breaks down and Van Damme is lifted up into the lighting rig above the set to deliver a six minute long monologue directly into the camera. It is a startling moment that was done in one take, unrehearsed and largely improvised. Van Damme discusses his life, his career, stardom, love, drugs, karate and Hollywood. The line between Van Damme the actor and Van Damme the character was already very tenuous in JCVD and in this scene you truly feel like this man is pouring his heart out to you. It is as powerful and convincing a performance as any of the acclaimed performances from more ‘respectable’ actors from the past 10 years. It is very much part of what makes JCVD the enjoyable and fascinating oddity that it is.

© Thomas Caldwell, 2009

Read more reviews at MRQE

JCVD

Jean-Claude Van Damme plays himself in a semi-alternate reality where he can’t find a good part, he’s in a custody battle for his daughter and is plagued by money problems. When he returns to Brussels and makes a stop at the post office he suddenly finds himself caught up in a robbery.

Directed by – Mabrouk El Mechri

Written by – Frederic Benudis, Mabrouk El Mechri, Christophe Turpin

Starring – Jean-Claude Van Damme, Francois Damiens, Zinedine Soualem, Karim Belkhadra, Jean-Francois Wolff, Anne Paulicevich, Francois Beukelaers, Saskia Flanders, Dean Gregory, Janine Horsburgh, Paul Rockenbrod, Alan Rossett, Jesse Joe Walsh, Leslie Woodhall

This was a really interesting flick. I loved the idea that it was exploring of Jean-Claude as himself where he’s put into a typical action movie scenario but it’s not an action movie. You’re almost waiting for him to bust out some crazy karate moves. That’s what makes the movie so interesting though. It’s not an action movie, this is his real life and he can’t just swing into action and save the day.

This one isn’t about Jean-Claude kicking everyone’s ass, it’s more about watching him get his ass kicked by everyone else. He’s down on his luck, can’t get a good part in a movie and looks like he’ll lose his daughter in a custody battle. There are moments where Jean-Claude’s acting really stands out. I never would have expected him to be able to act beyond a kick here and a punch there so that was refreshing to see. There’s plenty of funny moments here as well, my favorite being a scene where he learns of Steven Seagal getting a role instead of him. I’m sure there’s shreds of truth peppered throughout this movie which probably makes it slightly more fun to watch. I have to say that I enjoyed this much more than any of his big screen, over the top action flicks.

Under the marquee – Will

Jag är rätt sent ute, men jag har sett JCVD av Mabrouk El Mechri med och om Jean Claude Van Damm!

Filmen som idé är helt fantastisk och delar av filmen är också just vad jag önskade.

Men framförallt: Jean Claude själv framstår plötsligt inte så patetisk som han en gång gjorde.

Trots eller just för att det är patetisk han spelar.

Filmen som helhet var kanske inget mästerverk, men den var riktigt bra -den bästa jag sett honom i, med råge- och det var de vardagliga, semi-dokumentära scenerna som denna var de jag uppskattade mest:

Och så förstås:

Jag som trodde att han bara var:

Inte så bara kanske, men jag trodde att han var och alltid skulle vara som sina filmer.

Ytlig, medioker och ointressant.

Jag älskar när jag måste tänka om, utvecklas…

Och föga anade jag väl att Van Damm någonsin skulle bidra till min personliga utveckling.

Borde kanske som tonåring ha lyssnat på mina killkompisar!;)

Il faut l’avouer, de toutes les barbaques musculeuses qui gambadent dans les films d’actions, JCVD a toujours été le plus attachant. Pas le plus fort ni le plus intelligent, non, mais le plus attachant. Ces interviews-fleuves, et multilingues, dans lesquelles il se révélait également philosophe, achevaient de nous convaincre. On l’attendait au tournant d’un rôle différent, sérieux, ou en tout cas décalé, un chouia moins physique et un chouia plus introspectif. C’est à présent chose faite avec JCVD, un film de Mabrouk El Mechri, tourné ici, à Bruxelles, non loin de son lieu de naissance. Tour à tour drôle et pathétique, subtil et lourdingue, émouvant ou ridicule, JCVD est un film comme on n’en réussit qu’une fois. Il se consacre à une réhabilitation, si besoin était, de JCVD, Jean-claude Van Damme, héros des uns, honte des autres. C’est en cela que JCVD est un film qui ne fonctionne qu’une fois. Sorti de son rôle à l’écran, et surtout lorsqu’il s’agit du même rôle de film en film, qui sait ce qui se cache dans la tête d’un acteur ? Les précédentes entreprises similaires de sauvetage, ou simplement de détournement, d’icônes de la culture populaire n’avaient jusqu’ici livré qu’un illuminé scientologue et un gouverneur républicain.

JCVD explore bien sûr à fond cette distinction entre la personne à l’écran, la personne publique, et la personne privée. Anti-héros, chien battu dans la vraie vie, le Van Damme du film craque, il a des problèmes d’argent, sa carrière bat de l’aile, il se fait vieux, il est en plein divorce et sa fille ne veut plus le voir parce que « chaque fois que mon père passe à la télé, mes amis se moquent de moi à l’école ». Egratignant en passant ses collègues, Vin Diesel, Rutger Hauer, Stephen Seagal et sa couette, JCVD a de plus en plus de mal à lutter contre la concurrence. Il s’essouffle. Et pourtant son public, ses fans, lui conservent toute leur admiration ; pour le surhomme, bien sûr, leur idole, mais aussi pour l’homme. « Il est comme tout le monde, monsieur l’agent », « il a bossé, Jean-Claude, pour aller jusqu’à Hollywood ». Mais le héros est fatigué, et le vernis s’écaille, et le public, volage, menace de se retourner contre lui. « Vous êtes plus sympa à l’écran, ça je peux vous le dire ».

Et comme les ennuis appellent les ennuis, JC continue sa descente. Dans un Bruxelles maquillé comme pour un Jeunet-Carot, il pousse la porte d’un bureau de poste, où, mais il ne le sait pas encore, il va affronter son destin. C’est alors un classique film de braquage qui démarre, rendant au passage un hommage au “Dog Day Afternoon” de Sydney Lumet, avec un sosie de John Cazale dans le rôle principal, et comme chez Lumet des manifs dans la rue pour soutenir notre héros.

A coup de flashes-back très efficaces, le film multiplie les approches, les éclairages, JCVD est examiné sous toutes les coutures. On nous le montre tour à tour fier comme un karateka, modeste comme un samurai, puis désemparé, cherchant à utiliser sa gloire qui s’enfuit pour obtenir de lamentables faveurs; « C’est incohérent, je suis Jean-Claude Van Damme, c’est des conneries ! ». Et puis, le film se fend d’une scène de confession, pétage de plombs où notre héros tragique prend conscience de sa condition et nous demande, nous, public, pourquoi tout ça, finalement, le monde, la violence (« c’est con de tuer des gens, ils sont tellement beaux »), l’injustice (« ça fait mal au cœur de voir de gens qui n’ont pas ce que j’ai »), tout ça, quoi. On savait l’homme philosophe, on nous le dévoile humaniste, lévitant zen pour la rédemption du monde, et la sienne. Située quelque part à une intersection improbable de John Woo et de Jean-luc Godard, cette scène est un sommet du film, et en marque les limites. Il n’est plus possible d’aller plus loin. Au-delà, il n’y a plus d’autre salut possible qu’un retour à la fiction, qu’un retour à l’action, comme le montre la fin (les fins) du film.

A bold pick with Tell No One, a film I have yet to see, but I must say it smacks of a desperate effort to establish some kind of film cred. “I looove foreign films. Hold still while I drop the names of a couple features from the burgeoning Kyrgyzstani film industry that I just happened to catch at the local art house theater between visits to Pinkberry and my weekly sake tasting class. Oh, never heard of them? Didn’t think so.”

So, um… my #7 also comes from France:

JCVD

Words alone can’t properly communicate just how cool this movie is, so if you haven’t yet seen it, watch the trailer above (preferably in HD).

In JCVD, Jean Claude Van Damme plays himself as a washed-up Hollywood has-been who finds himself stuck in the middle of a bank heist back home in Belgium, and what follows is a story of heroism and redemption that ends just a little differently than you might expect. This film oozes style from every orifice, whether it’s the genius premise, the phenomenal acting (Mickey Rourke needs to donate at least some of that excess praise to the Jean Claude Van Damme foundation), the lively score or the inspired direction by French-Algerian newcomer Mabrouk El Mechri. I can only imagine it must take a remarkable amount of skill from everyone involved to pull together a complex, one-take action setpiece or an intense character moment that lasts 5 minutes without shot-by-shot coaching. This movie does it so many times you lose count, but you never lose focus.

JCVD doesn't blink, he makes Chuck Norris blink for him.

When Sulmoney picked The Wrestler as his #9, I commented that it was a fantastically-made movie to which I simply felt no personal attachment. Well, JCVD is my Wrestler, and Jean Claude Van Damme is my Mickey Rourke. In concept, JCVD and the Wrestler are almost identical, but in execution they’re perfect opposites. Both stories examine the lives of tragically-fallen superstars of days past, but while The Wrestler tackles the parallel stories of Randy “The Ram” and Mickey Rourke with subtlety and subtext, JCVD doesn’t even know the meanings of those words. At one point Jean Claude looks straight into the camera and delivers a 6-minute soliloquy about his feelings on his struggling career. It’s not the movie’s strongest point, but thankfully, subtlety isn’t everything.

JCVD as Guile

In 1994’s Street Fighter: The Movie, Jean Claude Van Damme as Guile told M. Bison he was gonna kick his ass so hard, “the next Bison wannabe is gonna feel it.” If he had said that in JCVD, I would’ve believed him. Respect.

…and did I mention it’s French?

Mabrouk El Mechri's JCVD

I love martial arts movies. You’re going to hear me say that on more than one occasion on this blog.

I love martial arts movies, and one of the first ones I ever saw was Bloodsport, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. He plays Frank Dux, an American man with a Belgian accent, wearing a low-cut tank top, accompanied by a hairy bear muscle mary called Ray. They take part in a kumite tournament which resembles Streetfighter II on mushrooms.

It took a lot of work to even get to see Bloodsport in the first place. First, I bought it at a car boot sale and hid it from my parents until I was able to create a fake ‘PG’ sticker for the video sleeve so they’d let me watch it. Basically, Bloodsport is frickin’ awesome.

Since then, it’s fair to say that Jean-Claude Van Damme’s career has had its ups and downs.

JCVD is his attempt at reinventing himself, or perhaps redeeming himself. And to an extent it works. The film opens with a long uninterrupted take following JCVD taking out various bad guys – but then becomes a wholly unexpected film. We are following JCVD, as himself. He argues with a disinterested director on set, goes through a painful child custody battle, argues with his agent, and in the end returns to his home town in Belgium to recharge his batteries and recuperate.

He stops off at a bank to get some money out – and is caught up in a robbery. What happens next is straight out of Dog Day Afternoon, but with a washed up martial arts movie star in place of Al Pacino.

Great concept. The execution is perhaps a little disappointing, but there’s some great set pieces and jokes, many of which are aimed at hardcore JCVD fans. The biggest payoff is that we never really see the Muscles from Brussels executing any flashy moves (except for the part where a starstruck bank robber asks him to do the cigarette trick from Hard Target).

The most jawdropping moment has to be the monologue.

Yes, a monologue from Jean-Claude Van Damme. However, this is delivered in his mother tongue, so is a bit more fluent than his usual delivery. Who can forget him saying “Zere iz nevair enough time to satisfy a whoo-man” in TimeCop, for example? But this is a long, uninterrupted monologue where JCVD essentially explains himself to his friends, his family, and his fans, before the action of the film resumes. It’s pretty heavy stuff, and seems quite heartfelt.

The film also concludes in a very unexpected way – and ends on a real emotional sucker punch.

JCVD is a good film, for its concept alone. I’d recommend you seek it out on DVD or in cinemas, especially if you’re a fan of the great man’s work. I just can’t help thinking the star of the film would have walked away with a lot more dignity, had he not signed up to star in a sequel to Universal Soldier immediately afterwards.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=4z_6UfkQ-c0

Be Aware.

JCVD on IMDB

“Jean-Claude Van Damme busca reivindicarse y descubre que las plazas de ídolos están agotadas. Aparte, la audiencia actual prefiere recibir la cabeza del fetiche de inicio de semana antes de la llegada del viernes: Erige figuras, encúmbralas alto que siempre es más divertido verlas caer. Esta cinta representa el plano que deberían de seguir todas esas estrellas que han caído de gracia.”

Así lo tuittée en su momento: “Jesús nunca tan emocionado por ver una cinta de JCVD…”

["Esto bien pudo haber salvado su carrera, de no ser por que el cateto aceptó hacer otra secuela de Soldado Universal"]

[2007's #11: The Last Winter.. Dir. Larry Fessenden.
[2006's #11: EMPATE:Tideland.. Dir. Terry GilliamSlither.. Dir. James Gunn
[2005's #11: Hostel. Dir. Eli Roth]
[2004's #11: n/a]
[2003's #11: n/a]

Mabrouk El Mechri—remember that name.  His JCVD is more than an arch and skillful parody of action flicks, more than a comment on disposable culture, more than a reveal of the international police/justice system, and more than an escapade with bizarre, intoxicating computerized color techniques:  it is a heartfelt and urgent portrait of an aging and personable star, burdened by celebrity, unhappy in marriage, agonized over the disaffection of his teenage daughter, and now trapped by mindless thugs in a Belgian heist that has been catapulted into worldwide media coverage so that he loses his agent, his lawyer, his reputation, even, to some horrible degree, his identity.  None of this is what’s best about this film, however.  El Mechri has an absolutely sure sense of how scenes must play for maximum comic, dramatic, and musical effect, and so there is not one shot, not one breath, that lasts too long or carried in the wrong direction.  As to whether Monsieur Jean-Claude Van Damme can act:  you’d better believe it!  The film has violence, but because the filmmaker insists that it be real, because this film is about the boundary between fiction and the everyday, it is neither stretched nor exaggerated nor rained upon us.  At one point, our hero is struck in the head with the butt of a pistol, and he feels the pain for the rest of the film, as do we.  Much of what is being critiqued here is the blasé attitude we have learned to bring to screen violence:  here the shocks are palpable, and therefore they do not need to be larger than life.

articolo pubblicato su Rapporto Confidenziale – numerodieci, dicembre 2008 (pag.37-38).

download. ALTA qualità 7.9mb | BASSA qualità 3.0 | ANTEPRIMA

JCVD. Jean-Clude Van Damme
di Alessandra Cavisi

Regia: Mabrouk El Mechri; sceneggiatura: Frédéric Bénudis, Mabrouk El Mechri, Christophe Turpin; montaggio: Kako Kelber; fotografia: Pierre-Yves Bastard; musiche: Gast Waltzing; interpreti: Jean-Claude Van Damme, François Damiens, Zinedine Soualem, Karim Belkhadra, Jean-François Wolff, Anne Paulicevich; paese: Belgio, Lussemburgo, Francia; durata: 96′.

Trama. Il famoso attore di action-movie Jean-Claude Van Damme, ormai in declino, decide di tornare in Belgio per ricominciare da capo e per trovare i soldi necessari alla costosissima causa per l’affidamento della sua bambina. Ritrovatosi invischiato per caso in una rapina all’ufficio postale, si ritrova a pensare alla sua vita e alla sua carriera e a rendersi conto di non aver saputo dare e ottenere il massimo da entrambe le due realtà.

Un biopic che è anche una sorta di mockumentary, che è soprattutto una presa in giro ironica e autoironica di uno dei più grandi attori dei film d’azione degli anni ‘80 e ‘90, impigliato in una rete di convenzioni e di meccanismi dalla quale diventa sempre più difficile uscire e nella quale si rimane impigliati per sopravvivere nonostante la forte presenza di ben altre aspirazioni. Jean-Claude Van Damme, mette da parte i muscoli (anche se ancora ben visibili nonostante l’età che avanza) e ci mostra il suo cuore e la sua anima, mettendosi a nudo e raccontando la sua esperienza di vita e di carriera tra alti e bassi. Non lo si vedeva da un bel po’ sullo schermo e si sapeva poco o niente della sua vita privata, contrassegnata da ombre e fantasmi come quello della droga, però l’attore esperto in arti marziali è tornato alla grande, sfoggiando una forma fisica invidiabile, ma soprattutto una capacità interpretativa che va al di là di ogni aspettativa. Abituati ad assistere alle sue performance fisiche piuttosto che espressive, messe al servizio di film sempre più uguali a loro stessi, ci sorprende trovare un attore in grado di far ridere, ma soprattutto di emozionare e di piangere. Nonostante i sei minuti di monologo nei quali l’attore dà sfoggio di questo suo lato sconosciuto siano un po’ fuori contesto, perché eccessivamente “drammatici” rispetto all’ilarità che contrassegna la pellicola oltre che didascalici nel voler raccontare quello che in realtà era ovvio anche in assenza di parole, la scena colpisce proprio perché forse non era mai successo all’attore di potersi esprimere totalmente come in questo caso. Insomma vedere Jean-Claude Van Damme piangere in un film non è cosa di tutti i giorni, così come vederlo rivolgersi a Dio, oltre che direttamente allo spettatore non lascia del tutto indifferenti. La situazione assurda e molto pericolosa nella quale suo malgrado l’attore viene coinvolto (la rapina all’ufficio postale portata avanti da tre insoliti personaggi) serve in realtà da pretesto per raccontare i meccanismi a volte crudeli e insensibili della macchina-cinema (soprattutto quando si parla di Hollywood) che prima crea dei personaggi sempre uguali a se stessi sfruttandoli fino a quando hanno successo, e poi li abbandona al loro destino senza occuparsi delle reali capacità e aspirazioni degli attori, costretti il più delle volte a tuffarsi in progetti che non ritengono adeguati, solo per non finire nel dimenticatoio e soprattutto perché sono gli unici che gli vengono proposti. Non manca la critica al divismo e all’eccessiva “sacralizzazione” di star che alla fine non sono altro che uomini come tutti gli altri, uomini che generalmente vengono odiati e condannati dalla gente se invischiati in un atto deprecabile come una rapina, ma che nel caso del signor Van Damme vengono addirittura osannati e ricevono un tifo da stadio (agli occhi dei poliziotti e degli astanti la rapina sembra essere stata organizzata dallo stesso attore, che in realtà è uno degli ostaggi nelle mani dei rapitori). Significativi, oltre che veramente molto spassosi, i dialoghi telefonici con l’agente, che gli propone addirittura dei film già girati o infiniti sequel e remake, nonostante l’attore continui a pregarlo di coinvolgerlo in progetti più interessanti. Altrettanto spiritosi i duetti comici con uno dei tre rapitori, che cova una non tanto segreta ammirazione nei confronti di Van Damme (ci si diverte e si ride anche con piccole cose: una tipica mossa di Jean-Claude, il codino di Steven Segal e cose di questo genere). Molte le gag di semplice ma efficace comicità affidate alle mani di una serie di personaggi davvero esilaranti, come una tassista insistente, dei negozianti fissati con le fotografie, i genitori di Van Damme o il suo avvocato. A rovinare il risultato complessivo, di per sé sicuramente accettabile, c’è la venatura seriosa che accompagna i momenti di ironia e di riflessione metacinematografica. Poco riuscita è la sequenza dedicata al processo per la custodia della figlia, protagonista di un finale un po’ troppo ruffiano e a tratti poco incisivo. Colpisce anche la particolarissima fotografia e l’originale ambientazione (quasi tutto il film è girato all’interno dell’ufficio postale), oltre che la suddivisione in capitoli dai titoli molto significativi, che ci raccontano di volta in volta la reale versione dei fatti oltre che tutta la profondità e lo spessore di questo uomo-personaggio-attore.

articolo pubblicato su Rapporto Confidenziale – numerodieci, dicembre 2008 (pag.37-38).

download. ALTA qualità 7.9mb | BASSA qualità 3.0 | ANTEPRIMA