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Bon Voyage
"You see, the newspaper guy is in love with the actress, who is the mistress of the government guy. Her childhood neighbor is in love with the actress as well, but the scientist's assistant is in love with the neighbor guy. Oh, and the Nazis are coming."
French farce? Of course. But along with the elements of over-the-top comedy and melodrama, Bon Voyage manages to also suck the viewer into its world and get the viewer invested in the film's outcome.
Set in France during World War II, just before the Vichy regime, Bon Voyage centers around Viviane (Isabelle Adjani), a film star and her childhood next-door neighbor, Frederic (Gregori Derangere). When she murders a man in her apartment, he takes the fall, out of his unrequited love for her.
But when the Nazis advance toward Paris, everyone flees for the south, including Viviane, Frederic, and a cast of thousands. Viviane leaves with her lover, Jean-Etienne Beaufort (a cleaned-up Gerard Depardieu). Frederic escapes jail with the help of fellow inmate Raoul (Yvan Attal) and meets a pretty young professor's assistant, Camille (Virginie Ledoyen) on the train. Also moving south is Alex (Peter Coyote), a journalist obsessed with Viviane.
Once everyone settles in Bordeaux, the plot relies on a series of chance encounters and contrivances in order to advance. If the viewer can accept that (and it is not hard – that is how farce traditionally operates), the ballet that ensues is charming, beautiful and, at times, fall-down funny.
Much of the credit has to go to director Jean-Paul Rappeneau, who keeps the film moving forward at a blinding clip. There's no time to think about the plausibility of the coincidences in the plot, because there's something new happening right then.
The performances are also top notch. Adjani was 48 years old when this film was released, according to IMDB. How she pulls off the young movie star with such grace despite personally having anywhere from 15 to 20 years on her character is anyone's guess, but she is fantastic as Viviane. Ledoyen was cast perfectly as Camille, with her innocent face and sweet nature. And Derangere never strikes a wrong note as he swings between genres; he is a romantic lead one moment, then in an over-the-top farce the next.
The DVD
Video:
Presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1), Bon Voyage looks fairly clean. However, there are some serious problems with "striping" on white backgrounds at times. Also, black levels are inconsistent, which makes a couple of darker scenes difficult to follow.
Sound:
Two French soundtracks are provided. There is very little difference between the 5.1 and the 2.0, however. The 5.1 has very little surround activity, which is disappointing in some of the crowd scenes.
Extras:
A director's commentary by Jean-Paul Rappeneau is the only extra of note included. Rappeneau speaks very little English, so the film's subtitles are replaced by those with his words. There's very little insight into the film itself, though, with Rappeneau much more content to tell stories about production and explain what is going on at that time on screen – as if we need him to tell us the setting.
Previews are also included for The Triplets of Belleville, The Company, The Cuckoo and Xhou Yu's Train.
Final Thoughts:
More than just a standard farce, Bon Voyage is an enchanting French film, one that makes the viewer invest in the characters' fates emotionally while still making him or her laugh.
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