My old friend Bernie Collins, now living in Paris and performing as one half of BP Zoom, has alerted me to the Cannes Film Festival premiere of La Fée (The Fairy),co-starring Bernie’s BP Zoom partner, > Philippe Martz. The film is written and directed by its other co-stars, Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon, and Bruno Romy. Their previous films are Rumba and Iceberg, and their style owes a lot to the silent film / physical comedy traditions.
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The movie is already getting good press here in the United States:
The Belgo-Canadian-French trio, who specialize in pantomime and circus-style theatrics, have a clownlike knack for finding humor in the everyday. Ketchup bottles, bicycle chains and folding chairs become instruments of uproarious inspiration — a reminder of the degree to which good, old-fashioned physical comedy has faded from cinema. But unlike Peter Sellers, Jacques Tati and others who’ve excelled in this department, Dom and Fiona come as a pair, bringing a welcome dash of romance to the proceedings.
CANNES — Dishing out another slew of colorfully anarchistic sight gags, Belgium-based trio Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon and Bruno Romy are back with their latest Keystone-style romp, The Fairy (La Fee). Firmly grounded in the work of Chaplin, Keaton and especially Jacques Tati, to which they add a few welcome socio-political twists, these talented writers-directors-actors should have their wish granted with further arthouse exposure following an opening bow in the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.
[And you’ll find the whole Hollywood Reporter review here.]
