Mammuth, the film about a long haired looser - Serge Pilardosse (Gérard Depardieu) who since the age of 16 always worked hard, never been on a sick leave and now is retiring at the age of 60 - is a very charming history.
After the retirement a very common question arise - at least for those persons whos only interest in life has been their work:
What am I going to do after the retirement?
Serge has no interests in life, he doesn't even know how to do the shopping correct and when trying to do some carpenter's work at home, he fails.
Another problem arises, a problem his wife - Catherine (Yolande Moreau) - discovers:
Some of Serge's former employers have failed to fill in all the forms concerning his previous work in their companies.
Serge decides to take his motorcycle, go on a road trip visiting all these employers, seeing to that the papers are completed.
This proves to be harder than he thought as some of his earlier work places no longer exists, some of his employers are no longer able to help him as they either are pensioners themselves or more or less senile.
On this road trip he meets a lot of persons from his past and also persons he have never met before.
All these encounters constitute a restoration of his life, also helping him to look to the future.
At the same time his dead fiancée is present in his mind, a fiancée who died in an accident for which he feels responsible.
This is a very interesting film with a lot of layers and the aesthetics is very significative for the directors Kervern and Delépine, blending a 1960-70's ambiance with the contemporary.
They also use the cameras in a very specific way, creating granular images, changing back and forth between light and darkness.
Those of you who have seen the film Aaltra probably recognizes their special treatment of pictures and themes.
Both this film and Aaltra deals with people on the margine, fighting for their rights in society, a social agenda dressed in black humour.
To some extent one can find a resemblance between this film and David Lynch's 'The Straight Story'.
After the retirement a very common question arise - at least for those persons whos only interest in life has been their work:
What am I going to do after the retirement?
Serge has no interests in life, he doesn't even know how to do the shopping correct and when trying to do some carpenter's work at home, he fails.
Another problem arises, a problem his wife - Catherine (Yolande Moreau) - discovers:
Some of Serge's former employers have failed to fill in all the forms concerning his previous work in their companies.
Serge decides to take his motorcycle, go on a road trip visiting all these employers, seeing to that the papers are completed.
This proves to be harder than he thought as some of his earlier work places no longer exists, some of his employers are no longer able to help him as they either are pensioners themselves or more or less senile.
On this road trip he meets a lot of persons from his past and also persons he have never met before.
All these encounters constitute a restoration of his life, also helping him to look to the future.
At the same time his dead fiancée is present in his mind, a fiancée who died in an accident for which he feels responsible.
This is a very interesting film with a lot of layers and the aesthetics is very significative for the directors Kervern and Delépine, blending a 1960-70's ambiance with the contemporary.
They also use the cameras in a very specific way, creating granular images, changing back and forth between light and darkness.
Those of you who have seen the film Aaltra probably recognizes their special treatment of pictures and themes.
Both this film and Aaltra deals with people on the margine, fighting for their rights in society, a social agenda dressed in black humour.
To some extent one can find a resemblance between this film and David Lynch's 'The Straight Story'.
The second film at Cinéma Lux today was Iron Man 2. Director: Jon Favreau.
In this second part we meet Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) again, now being known to the world as Iron Man.
He's put under pressure from the government who want's him to hand over his "weapon".
He explains that "the weapon is me" and that he has no intentions at all to turn himself over to the government.
Instead he declares that the eventual aim the government have had - to create peace - is something he has achieved on his own, making other superpowers signing a peace treaty, under the threat of being punished by Iron Man.
Peace-making has been privatized.
Pepper Pots (Gwyneth Paltrow) - his right hand - tries to controll Stark and prevent him from taking to many risks putting the world at danger with his big ego. This efforts of her becomes even more intense after Stark - somewhat surprising - appoints her CEO of Stark Industries.
Other countries has started to develop their own 'Iron Men' and this worries the US government but also the organisation S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) who wants to help Stark in a number of ways, not least with a cure against the palladium that slowly is poisoning his body.
S.H.I.E.L.D. also gives him access to his fathers artifacts, among them some films who provides Stark with clues to his own creation and the reactor he's wearing in his chest. Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johanson) infiltrates Starks company but she is also a member of S.HI.E.LD.
Stark is also attacked by Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), who later on is revealed as the son of Anton Vanko, a physicist who collaborated with Starks father with the construction the first reactor.
The son has succeeded in creating a similar prototype with some extraordinary powers.
Another opponent is Starks rival Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), who wants to take advantage of Vankos knowledge and powers.
This in combination with colonel James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) who uses his friendship with Stark in order to get access to his other Iron Men-prototypes, firstly in order to help Stark but later on being used by the government and the military, creates an explosive situation.
In its genre I think this is a quite entertaining movie made with a glimpse in the eye, not taking itself so seriously.
This not least thanks to Robert Downey Jr and his acting.
I must say that even if I'm not a huge fan of Downey, I think he has found a perfect role in this film - or rather the directors have found a perfect actor for the role.
Mickey Rourke is always interesting to see. He's an underestimated actor, even though he's often type casted.
In this film he's doing a role as a loser who wants to get back on the track, seeking revenge - like Depardieu in his above mentioned role as Mammuth.
They resemble each other to a certain degree in these movies, big and long haired, even though Depardieu's loser is a kind big bear, Rourke's a big mean bear.
Pepper Pots makes me think of Miss Moneypenny in James Bond - and this is of course deliberately - and Natalie Rushman is a real 'super hero' but without technical material in her body, a female Bond.
On the whole I found this second part of Iron Man better than the first.
As in the first film the end is the beginning of a continuation.....
In this second part we meet Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) again, now being known to the world as Iron Man.
He's put under pressure from the government who want's him to hand over his "weapon".
He explains that "the weapon is me" and that he has no intentions at all to turn himself over to the government.
Instead he declares that the eventual aim the government have had - to create peace - is something he has achieved on his own, making other superpowers signing a peace treaty, under the threat of being punished by Iron Man.
Peace-making has been privatized.
Pepper Pots (Gwyneth Paltrow) - his right hand - tries to controll Stark and prevent him from taking to many risks putting the world at danger with his big ego. This efforts of her becomes even more intense after Stark - somewhat surprising - appoints her CEO of Stark Industries.
Other countries has started to develop their own 'Iron Men' and this worries the US government but also the organisation S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) who wants to help Stark in a number of ways, not least with a cure against the palladium that slowly is poisoning his body.
S.H.I.E.L.D. also gives him access to his fathers artifacts, among them some films who provides Stark with clues to his own creation and the reactor he's wearing in his chest. Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johanson) infiltrates Starks company but she is also a member of S.HI.E.LD.
Stark is also attacked by Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), who later on is revealed as the son of Anton Vanko, a physicist who collaborated with Starks father with the construction the first reactor.
The son has succeeded in creating a similar prototype with some extraordinary powers.
Another opponent is Starks rival Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), who wants to take advantage of Vankos knowledge and powers.
This in combination with colonel James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) who uses his friendship with Stark in order to get access to his other Iron Men-prototypes, firstly in order to help Stark but later on being used by the government and the military, creates an explosive situation.
In its genre I think this is a quite entertaining movie made with a glimpse in the eye, not taking itself so seriously.
This not least thanks to Robert Downey Jr and his acting.
I must say that even if I'm not a huge fan of Downey, I think he has found a perfect role in this film - or rather the directors have found a perfect actor for the role.
Mickey Rourke is always interesting to see. He's an underestimated actor, even though he's often type casted.
In this film he's doing a role as a loser who wants to get back on the track, seeking revenge - like Depardieu in his above mentioned role as Mammuth.
They resemble each other to a certain degree in these movies, big and long haired, even though Depardieu's loser is a kind big bear, Rourke's a big mean bear.
Pepper Pots makes me think of Miss Moneypenny in James Bond - and this is of course deliberately - and Natalie Rushman is a real 'super hero' but without technical material in her body, a female Bond.
On the whole I found this second part of Iron Man better than the first.
As in the first film the end is the beginning of a continuation.....
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