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28 out of 31 people found the following review useful:
A Heavyweight Lightweight, 23 September 2004

Author: tommiller80

This movie travels farther on 8 gunshots, 2 kisses and 100 clichés than should be possible. Yet it still works. Brilliant.

As I was driving home from the theater, I tried to figure out how it got away with movie staples like the pages of a novel manuscript blowing across a beach or the impossible series of fortuitous coincidences without the entire audience standing up and screaming, "I've seen that a million times before! And you've pushed beyond the edge of believability!" But the actors were so enchanting and the screen so filled with believable extras that I forgot to care. A friend who saw it with me said it transported him to Paris so perfectly that he was disappointed when we left the theater and realized we were still in Indiana.

Overall, a romantic-comedy-thriller with subtlety, wit and elan.

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19 out of 19 people found the following review useful:
It is earnestly delightful in spite of the serious subject of wartime woes., 22 May 2004

Author: Ruby Liang (ruby_fff) from sf, usa

It's wartime drama - WWII, with French and Jews and Germans, but this one is somehow fun, earnestly so. Director Jean-Paul Rappeneau co-wrote the script to his well-received film "Bon Voyage" (2003). Unlike director Bertrand Tavernier's "Safe Conduct" aka "Laissez-passer" (2002), w-d Rolf Schubel's "Gloomy Sunday" (1999), or w-d Claude Berri's "Lucie Aubrac" (1997), "Bon Voyage" is as chipper as its title sounds - c'est la vie (whatever) - and we have the beautiful talented Isabelle Adjani to thank for. It is her delightful performance throughout as the center of attraction (and attention), the cause and effect of it all, that made the film so enjoyable as it is. Hell, what's another derailment of her plan and expectations - will worry about that another time. The backbone of the story does revolve around a pair of young enthusiasts: Grégori Derangère as Frédéric and Virginie Ledoyen (from Francois Ozon's "8 Women") as Camille. The incomparable Gérard Depardieu, the witty Yvan Attal (of "My Wife is An Actress") and versatile Peter Coyote (juggling French, English and German here) are some of the stellar cast involved.

There are many characters coming and going in this plot of a movie, and how it's all juggled is a skilful knack that requires no analysis - Rappeneau is simply a genius. The story just builds upon itself, one episode after another, or even with overlapping events, but never confusing - that's the delight of it all, somehow every detail turns out right on the screen and we just lap it all up like a tastily presented French dessert, literally so. There's thrills, trills, tender hesitant moments and taut ominous escapes, all playing out in front of our eyes.

From reading the Director's Note on the Sony Pictures Classics' Bon Voyage official site, Rappeneau indicated this is his most personal and successful work ever. Depicting Bordeaux 1940 from memories of his childhood years is very much close to his heart and he "had worked and reworked the script for almost 3 years." This film is a labor of love all round, the cast and crew complementing the director's passion and a formidable script by collaborative writers along with the director and his son Julien - adaptation efforts by Gilles Marchand, Patrick Modiano, and Jérôme Tonnerre.

Music by Gabriel Yared (varied in tone from his previous film scores like "The English Patient" or "Talented Mr. Ripley"), who provided a befitting theme that kept the pace and rhythm of the plot going - almost like a train going non-stop, reflecting Adjani's Viviane's vivacious energy (even when she's tired), keeping her going as she meets whatever comes, walking on with head held high and stylish attire always, no looking back, let alone time for regrets.

Ah, mustn't forget the wonderfully translated, skilful subtitles by Ian Burley, who also did subtitles for films in Italian: "Bread and Tulips" (2000) aka Pane e tulipani, "The Last Kiss" (2001) aka L'ultimo bacio, and Tom Tykwer's "Heaven" (2002).

If you find this much too light a wartime relationship drama, try w-d Mäx Fäberböck's "Aimée and Jaguar" (1999, in German, based on a true story) with brilliant performances from Juliane Köhler as Aimée and Maria Schrader as Jaguar.

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19 out of 22 people found the following review useful:
Magnificent Romantic Adventure in Times of War, 16 January 2006

Author: Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

In Paris, a few months before the Nazi invasion, the manipulative actress Viviane Denvers (Isabelle Adjani) uses her former sweetheart Frédéric Auger (Grégori Deràngere) to hide the body of a man killed by her. Frédéric hits the car, the dead man is found and he is sent to prison. When the Germans invade France, Frédéric escapes with another prisoner, Raoul (Yvan Attal), and they become friends. In the runaway to Bordeaux, they meet in the train Camille (Virginie Ledoyen), the young assistant of the physicist Professeur Kopolski (Jean-Marc Stehlé), who is trying to leave France with his research of heavy water. Once in Bordeaux, the group meets Viviane with her new lover, the minister of state Jean-Étienne Beaufort (Gérard Depardieu), and is chased by a German spy, the journalist Alex Winckler (Peter Coyote), while Paris is falling and the population is confused.

What a delightful and magnificent romantic adventure "Bon Voyage" is! The excellent and complex screenplay has action, romance, war, comedy, espionage, drama and lots of characters, played by a fantastic cast, indeed a constellation of stars; the direction is stunning; the music score is wonderful. I really loved this marvelous film, and I have to finish my review due to my limitation of adjectives to describe such a gem. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Viagem do Coração" ("Travel of the Heart")

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14 out of 15 people found the following review useful:
The more you know about French cinema, the more you will love this film, 12 March 2005

Author: chicagomike from Chicago, IL

Director and auteur Jean-Pierre Rappenau was 8 years old during the spring of 1940 as France's Third Republic disintegrated in a matter of a few weeks. It was a time, he says, when "all the adults were a little bit insane." He and the production staff have lovingly and meticulously recreated that world in a film where all the characters are essentially fictional. The structure, a classic farce, is ideal for the period as multiple plot lines zip and intersect only to come together in a logical, satisfying conclusion. The peg for this plot is Frederic, played by brilliant newcomer Gregory Derangere, who is fully up to playing opposite Adjani, Depardieu and Ledoyen. The real strength of the film is in its supporting performances. M. Rappeneau has cast the film exquisitely with actors who volunteered ideas for both action and dialogue and who know and prove that it is possible to fully realize a character with just two short sentences of dialogue. Though not yet as widely influential as Renoir's 'Rules of the Game,' 'Bon Voyage' richly deserves to be a companion piece to that classic. Though it demands a lot of the audience, it gives much back. One of its demands is tolerance for a certain coyness and misdirection as to the exact genre we are watching: a crime melodrama, no, a spy thriller, ah, a romantic comedy. Recommend it to cinemaphile friends. Just be sure to let them discover for themselves that it is a romantic comedy.

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7 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
A good, self-consciously old-fashioned war-effort movie/film, 21 August 2004
Author: stonej (stonej@missouri.edu) from U.S.A

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I really liked this movie. I saw the DVD on Friday, and watched it with director's comments the next day. The director's comments were very useful, but didn't as explicitly as I will attempt to do now give away the actual nature of the film.

It is a movie about the early years of the second world war of a sort that might have actually been made during he second world war, albeit not in France. One might see it as a case of revisionist wishful thinking. This is movie on the order--with many of the same character types, plot twists, and other conventions--of great war-time films like _Casablanca_ and _To Have and To Have Not_. Rappenneau brackets his film, in postmodern fashion, by beginning and ending it in movie theaters, and by making the Isabel Adjani character an actress who doesn't seem to be able stop acting. Who cares if she has had a face lift; she plays a woman who is tragically fake. This a movie almost as much about movies made during the war as about the war itself.

That said, I did not see this film as a spoof of mostly American war-effort movies. Rather, it is very loving tribute. Afterall, those were very good movies, some of them. If they seemed to copy each other (_To Have and to Have Not_ is a lighter, comic version of _Casablanca_)it may be because their message is timeless, and _bears_ repeating. Rappeneau's movie, like those movies, explores how basically apolitical, or opportunistically political, or even criminal individuals respond when confronted with a radical evil. Some passively acquiese, some collaborate, and some actively resist. The third option is the only ethical one, and that message certainly bears repeating. I hope this isn't too much of a spoiler.

It is wonderful how the film shows so many of its characters too caught up in their petty personal concerns to recognize, in the face of an urgent political crisis, how very petty those concerns are. This movie clearly shows why the French were so quickly defeated by the Nazi's, but also why they are our best friends. As the old joke goes, if we hadn't intervened in WWII, the French would all be speaking German; but if the French hadn't intervened in our revolution, we would all be speaking English. This movie could be a delight to francophones and francophobes alike--if the latter would bother to watch it.

I suppose it is significant that the most prominent Nazi in the film is played by an American, Peter Coyote. Perhaps there is a more, immediate, specific, more timely political message here than the above mentioned timeless one.

I had no problem with the pace of the film. It moves more quickly than most French, art-house films (in his comments, Rappeneau mentions that not just Coyote, but even the Parisian actors, complained about how quickly he demanded they speak their lines). It is also beautifully acted (by some of France's best), cinegraphed, scored, and directed. I had a little trouble believing that the characters could see as clearly as they did in the nocturnal forest scene toward the end of the film, but afterall, as good as it was, this was just a movie. But a worthy tribute.

I

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9 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Great fun, brilliant, superb, 11 June 2004

Author: Bob Pr. from Topeka, KS

"Bon Voyage" has the fast pace that in some ways reminds me of the Indiana Jones/Star Wars films -- it's as if you're on a fast train or roller coaster.

It's billed as a romance, mystery, thriller, and farce; it's all of that and more including candid observations on the reactions of French society during the Nazi invasion at the start of WWII. And it's also an exhibition of juggling that involves 7 main characters. The scenes all seemed historically accurate (to my eyes) and gave an excellent feeling for the period.

All of the actors were well cast and gave great performances but IMO the most superb was that by Isabelle Adjani who played the role of an opportunistic, self-centered French movie star; not only did she quite convincingly play the role of a young actress perhaps half her age but she also played her amorous wiles convincingly yet in such a way that the audience sees she's only half serious and more complex as a person than just a gold digger. Her character and energy propel the film through from beginning to end. It wasn't until I read Roger Ebert's review that I discovered she was 48 years old at the time of the film. What beauty!!

I appreciated the ending -- it's satisfying but lets you write your own conclusion as to what happens to the main characters.

As another User Commenter observed -- do NOT arrive late; you need to be there from the opening scene. Good advice.

I gave it 9 of 10.

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10 out of 13 people found the following review useful:
South Of The Bordeaux Revisited - Ai, Ai, Ai AI - In Spades, 15 May 2004
Author: writers_reign

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** I caught this gem on its initial release in France in April, 2003 and when I began posting comments on this site it was one of the first I dealt with. Since seeing it I have been lobbying everyone from the staff at Cine Lumiere to the janitor at Tartan Video to bring it over here and finally, later (some 13 months) rather than sooner it has finally opened at seven London cinemas, one for every major character in the plot but more of that later. In the interests of accuracy I have to say that this movie failed to find its audience in France despite being nominated for a clutch of Cesars (the French Oscars) including the two biggies, Best Film, Best Director, and even when it was re-released this Spring on the strength of it copping a Minor Cesar it still failed to torch the French Box Office. I attended the very first screening in London and I still LOVED it so I started in to figure what the problem was. It's a given that French and English critics seldom see the same film for proof of which we need look no further than Kill Bill 2, rightfully savaged as trash by the English critics but which has seen French critics this week lining up to award it maximum stars, and this, mind you, for the biggest piece of merde since a 50-strong troupe of Indian elephants took a collective dump on the Rue de Rivoli. The conclusion I have reached is that both critics and audiences alike, force-fed for years on simple formulas - Tom Cruise plus any A-List actress and a straight-ahead storyline and/or Julia Roberts plus any A-List actor in a straight-ahead storyline - have lost their capacity to deal with anything more sophisticated and let's face it, what Rappeneau delivers in Bon Voyage is a rich bouillabaise laced with caviar with no less than SEVEN major characters, dozens of others and a richly complex storyline veering from drama, satire, to comedy and romance. To come at this from another direction here's a question. What do we think of when we think of 'Casablanca'? Right. It's not JUST Rick and Ilsa, not even the triangle Rick-Ilsa-Victor Laszlo, it's all that PLUS, Peter Lorre's Ugarte, Sydney Greenstreet's Ferrari, Claude Raine's Renault and even then we're not through because it's also Leonid Kinsky and 'Cuddle' Zakall, it's the dip at the beginning, the Roumanian couple desperate to get to America, the middle-aged couple in the same boat. Today if they remade it 'Casablanca' but be Rick-Ilsa-Victor period and THAT'S the problem with 'Bon Voyage', it's just too good, it's a 1940s movie made in the 21st century. From the comments I've read here, mostly positive, I know I am in no danger of violating the SPOILER clause by recounting the plot so here goes: We open in a theater filled with Black Ties and Tiaras; after a moment the light beams from the projection box tell us this is a movie as opposed to a legit theater. We hear only disembodied voices and never see the movie in question. From her circle seat Isabelle Adjani as Viviane Denvers (main character #1) is watching what is obviously herself on screen whilst stealing surreptitious glances at a cat in the stalls who, we will learn, is Andre Arpel, producer of the film and her ex (and p***ed off about it) lover. It is clear that there is trouble in Paradise. The movie ends and Adjani is surrounded by well-wishers including Jean-Etienne Beaufort (Gerard Depardieu), Government Minister and main character #2, who looks at Adjani the way a wolf looks at a medium rare lamb chop. Adjani asks if there will be a war, a neat touch of exposition that fixes the period as 1939/40, but he gets enough of that at the office. After a late supper Adjani's society friends drop her off at her opulent apartment but Arpel is right behind and forces his way in. Alas, he is destined to wind up stiffer than a Laurence Harvey performance and Adjani, thinking on her feet, telephones boy-next-door-who's-always-been-smitten-now turned-writer Frederic (Gregori Derangere) who comes over toute de suite but baulks at helping cover a murder. Taken in by her story that Arpel tripped, made easier to swallow by a session in bed, he winds up moving the stiff in Arpel's own car but a combination of Parisienne rain plus wonky windshield wipers is an unbeatable parlay and he wraps the car round a police box and winds up in the slammer. Cut to June, 1940. With the Germans about to enter Paris the slammers are evacuated and the cons handcuffed in pairs. Frederic winds up cuffed to Raoul (Yvan Atal) a Career Criminal and main character #4, who, street-wise as he is, loses no time in bending a fork into a key and losing the cuffs. They go their separate ways for about five minutes but meet again on a Bordeaux-bound train where Raoul has already befriended Camille (Virginie Ledoyan) a science Lab Assistant and main character #5, who is helping ageing Professor Kopolski and Jewish-with-it (Jean-Marc Stehle), main character #6, to flee to England together with half a dozen carboys of the Heavy Water so essential to the manufacture of atomic bombs. Frederic, complete with the manuscript of his new novel, is introduced to Camille who, though drop-dead gorgeous (and, alas, married in real life) is wearing the obligatory eye-glasses and hair pulled into a tight bun of characters like this. In Bordeaux the French Government has relocated and so has Viviane Denvers, who wasted no tears on Frederic and no time cozying up to Beaufort. Frederic clocks her on Beaufort's arm, confronts her, as well he might, for an explanation and they, in turn, are clocked by Camille who figures that a Government Minister may be just the thing to fix it for the Professor to flee the scene. Meanwhile, Raoul has hooked up with the local heavies and together they heist a lorry-load of vintage wine (we ARE in Bordeaux remember). But wait, isn't there something missing? What about a nice Nazi spy, say someone masquerading as a newspaper man, fluent in French, natch, and another ex-lover of Viviane. Enter Alex Winckler (Peter Coyote), main character #7. Even now we are barely one hour into a two-hour movie and minor characters are all over the joint, not least of which is the old man who stumbles on Frederic's manuscript and pronounces it a masterpiece. Eventually after the odd chase and the killing of a German or two Frederic is able to get the Professor and his heavy water on a boat to England. Camille decides to stay behind and elsewhere Viviane decides that her best chance of getting back to Paris is via Alex Winckler, even though he has revealed his fluent German and true vocation. Cut again. It's now 1943 and Camille, now sans eye-glasses and wearing her hair where it will do the most good is strolling along the Rue minding her own business when who confronts her but Frederic, just parachuted in. Cutting up a few old touches in a cafe they have to leave in a hurry when a group of Germans start asking for 'papers plizz'. They take refuge in a cinema and when the Germans follow them Frederic kisses Camille and even when the Germans leave Frederic kisses Camille (can you blame him? Ledoyan is GORGEOUS and a great actress to boot, if anybody asks you). Then they recognise the voice on the screen and we SEE that it is none other than Viviane Denvers singing her heart out (in the first scene she shared with Frederic, she admitted that her singing voice was dubbed) and so Rappeneau closes his film as he began it, in a cinema with Adjani the center of attention and a gentle Pirandellian nod to truth and illusion. 9/10

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8 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Gloriously old-fashioned entertainment with a serious sub-text, 1 September 2004

Author: J_Carls from Nashville, TN

On its surface, this is one of the most classically entertaining action/comedy/romance films I've seen in a long time, reminding me of pleasurable old "Saturday-afternoon" movies that had just the right balance of unexpected twists, well-timed humor and integrated action. Beyond this, though, there is our knowledge of this film's context. It has the same elements of "Casablanca," but is set just before many of the characters would truly understand the seriousness of what was happening to their country (and the world) and the consequences of some of their own behavior. This adds a strong note of irony to the humor (we sense that one of the female characters has a radical change of hairstyle in her future). This is a film that you will not regret watching.

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3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Unique look at war, 22 May 2004
Author: lubkoberezowsky from Troy, Michigan

This movie was unique in the fact that it took place in the few months prior to and during the Nazi invasion of WWII. This gave the film a hectic atmosphere, as the French government and those surrounding it are in constant chaos while fleeing the approaching Blitzkrieg. For once we see the great disruption that war causes to millions of innocents, not just the horrors that occur on the front. However I don't agree with he genre characterization that it is a comedy- as it is a very entertaining blend of mystery, double-crossing and drama, as well as a few funny moments. Gerard Depardieu didn't have a overbearing role in the film, but played just one of the many interesting characters that are introduced. I was also surprised by Peter Coyote's French and German language skills - and I think it's worth commenting that an American was included in a French film - and I'm glad to say he held his own. Of course Ms. Adjani and Virginie Ledoyen play excellent roles- there's just something about those French ladies...

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4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Strangely Coherent, 26 April 2004

Author: themarina1 from Vancouver, BC

An interesting pairing of stories, this little flick manages to bring together seemingly different characters and story lines all in the backdrop of WWII and succeeds in tying them together without losing the audience. I was impressed by the depth portrayed by the different characters and also by how much I really felt I understood them and their motivations, even though the time spent on the development of each character was very limited. The outstanding acting abilities of the individuals involved with this picture are easily noted. A fun, stylized movie with a slew of comic moments and a bunch more head shaking events.

7/10

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