Review: MICMACS

Review originally published on March 18, 2010 as part of our SXSW coverage.

Favored French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Jeunet (DELICATESSEN, AMELIE) returns to delight audiences once again with MICMACS, his sixth feature film. Astounding visuals are abundant, washing the screen an alluring aura of cinematography. What sets MICMACS apart is its unabashedly comical nature, drawing influence from the silent masters. A love of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin is clearly present, making MICMACS a whimsically wild ride.

Danny Boon (THE VALET) plays Bazil, an unlucky man. As a boy, Bazil’s father was killed when a landmine exploded. His father was attempting to dispose of the explosive device. Now a grown man, Bazil works a simple job in a little video rental shop. On one otherwise normal and eventless day, a stray bullet ricochet’s into Bazil’s shop and plunks him in the head. Fortunate to survive, the doctors flip a coin to decide he’s better off having the bullet left lodged in is head, rather than risking the dangerous surgery. Such is the luck of Bazil.

In the following period, Bazil finds himself homeless. He’s resourceful and manipulates others efforts to get by, but adapts to his new life. Bazil’s misfortune on the streets is short-lived when he’s taken in by a ragtag posse of oddball misfits, all of whom share one thing in common… they’re not normal. Bazil shacks up with his newfound friends in their hideout, conveniently constructed beneath the grounds of a junkyard.

With his life altered by the bullet in his brain, the resilient Bazil concocts a complex plan to ruin the two rival weapons manufacturing companies that made the landmine responsible for his father’s death and the bullet that dealt his own disability. Enlisting the help of his awkwardly talented friends, and the junkyard from which they tinker their tools, the adventure begins and the antics take on a bit of a Rube Goldberg supplied by Acme hilarity.

MICMACS is beyond enjoyable, almost cute and adorable, yet slightly neurotic. Calculette (Marie-Julie Baup) is a young woman with an uncanny ability to calculate anything on sight, be it weight, distance or measurement of any kind. Jeunet regular Dominique Pinon plays Fracasse, driven and obsessed by his once-held World Record as a human cannonball. Petit Pierre (Michel Crémadès) is an ingenious inventor, utilizing the inexhaustible resources of the junkyard and “the rubber woman” La Môme Caoutchouc (Julie Ferrier) is a contortionist, capable of squeezing her body into nearly any position or tiny space.

What results is a sort of absurd and unlikely team with a common mission, a poor man’s dream squad a la Ocean’s Eleven, if you will? In some ways, the story is like a circus of clowns acting out a criminal heist story. In Jeunet’s own words, MICMACS is “like a cartoon” and this describes the live-action film very well. There is also a deeper layer to MICMACS, delving into the human experience.

The common theme throughout the film is that of less socially desirable characters, one could say characters cursed by their abnormalities, finding one another and making a place for themselves. Likewise, Bazil and “the rubber woman” develop a friendly romance as they carry out their plans against the weapons companies. There is a bit of political satire in MICMACS, poking at the arms industry, but it takes a welcome backseat to the character development and the charm of the interaction within this makeshift family.

Danny Boon is a new casting choice for Jeunet, but pulls off the role quite well, embracing the playfulness of the main character. The physical characteristics of Bazil’s personality and humor come off strong, producing laughter when necessary and evoking the correct emotional responses elsewhere.

MICMACS is colorful and vibrant, but still allows the somewhat rustic and cinematically aged feel of Jeunet’s palette to shine through, giving the film his familiar frame of reference. Each of these frames of film used as canvases onto which Jeunet pours his endless imagination. To some, Jeunet’s style is overwhelming, but if taken out of context and viewed only for the stylistic endeavor the film’s essence is lost. Jeunet is able to blend all elements of the filmmaking process to tell his story, generating an unforgettable experience.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars