Directed by:
Jean-François RichetScreenplay:
Éric BesnardCinematography:
Manuel DacosseCast:
Vincent Cassel, Ольга Куриленко, Denis Ménochet, August Diehl, Freya Mavor, James Thiérrée, Patrick Chesnais, Antoine Basler, Denis Lavant, Fabrice Luchini (more)VOD (1)
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At the height of Napoleon’s reign, Vidocq – who broke out of prison 27 times – is a legend. Left for dead after his latest escape, the ex-con is lying low as a modest cloth merchant. When his past catches up with him, he is framed by former cellmates for a murder he didn’t commit. To prove his innocence and his good faith, he makes a deal with the police: in exchange for his freedom, he will hunt down all the thieves and murderers on the streets of Paris. From convict to sheriff... Vidocq becomes, without intending to, the Emperor of Paris. (Moscow International Film Festival)
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Reviews (7)
Jean-François Richet sometimes rushes a bit too much, and at other times he needlessly stalemates in an attempt to squeeze in some of those "sort of artsy shots", but Vincent Cassel and his crew are fine badasses, Paris is wonderfully nasty, and it has a fine Dumasian adventure story feel. If Vidocq comes back with a sequel, I'll be happy.
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Criminal, adventurer, and successful government official Francois Vidocq, who streamlined the work of the police apparatus, was a fascinating figure in French history, and if Gaumont made a realistic historical drama about his life, it would still be a thrilling ride far from dry boredom. However, Jean-Francois Richet approached it differently and took Vidocq's character as a starting point for filming a romanticized adventure story in the style of popular pulp fiction novels, where all the beloved ingredients are present, such as love, revenge, honor, betrayal, and intrigue. Beautiful women appear and bloodthirsty bandits are crawling everywhere. There is no shortage of gunshots or sword strikes and relentless fights to the death. As a bonus, we get to meet the master of behind-the-scenes games, who supported a number of conflicting regimes - Minister of the Interior Fouché. The Emperor of Paris is an honest return to the tradition of adventurous historical epics with a grand production and prominent actors in the foreground. Vincent Cassel was a great choice, Olga Kurylenko fits the role of a courtesan, and Freya Mavor was an interesting surprise for me. She has a similar look to a young Marlene Jobert. It is true that the screenplay at times disregards logic and a few action scenes are overly exaggerated for greater effect, but let's be honest, these flaws were often more prevalent in old, good genre classics. Overall impression: 75%.
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Although Olga Kurylenko was trying as hard as she could to ruin my overall impression with her traditionally non-acting performance, I ignored her and focused my attention on the excellent Vincent Cassel instead. It was no masterpiece, but even though I’m not very fond of French cinema, I have to admit that I had quite a good time. This was mainly due to great action scenes, although the seppuku performed with a saber was way off. But never mind, I appreciate the effort.
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On the one hand, what I find disappointing is that the highly stimulating material of Vidocq’s life (furthermore, backed up by such a great cast, director and production design) is reduced to a mere dime-a-dozen adventure that lacks logic. On the other hand, we can be pleased that it is nevertheless a fine, uncompromising movie in which emotions are well portrayed. In fact, it inevitably seems like a successful adaptation of one of Xavier Dorison's albums. Whether that is a positive or a negative, however, is a completely different question. In my opinion, it is positive and not an insignificant one.
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France, Vincent Cassel and the best historical film of this year. The main character is the dreaded Vidocq, a famous thief with a great reputation who is forced to work with the police due to adverse conditions and decides to clean the streets of murderers, thieves and similar vermin. Great period atmosphere, a breathtaking Vincent, great narrative pace, awesome sets and plenty of suspense and of course a piece of history. Good stuff. 85%.
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