Search - Dead Tired (Grosse Fatigue) on DVD

Enjoyably quirky French comedy... Poor quality DVD

dooby | 05/25/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

""Grosse Fatigue" is a dark French comedy that borders on farce. It revolves around stolen identities, namely that of the French comic actor, Michel Blanc. Michel Blanc has been called France's Woody Allen. He is short, bald, sad-faced and plump. A really pathetic sad-sack. Aside from Blanc himself, it also stars other well known French actors such as Philippe Noiret, Carole Bouquet, Josiane Balasko, Charlotte Gainsbourg and even director Roman Polanski, all playing themselves. Michel Blanc finds himself in trouble with the law and with his friends when someone who looks like him takes to impersonating him in public and creating havoc in his name. It gets to the point where he is convinced he is having a nervous breakdown and goes to see a psychiatrist who advises rest in the countryside. There he and his actress friend, the lovely Carole Bouquet, stumble onto his impersonator (also played by Blanc). While Carole Bouquet gives the impersonator a piece of her mind, Michel Blanc surreptitiously cosies up to the idea hatched by the impersonator of using the double to take care of the tasks he himself would like to be rid of. This results in the double taking over his life and the real Michel Blanc being forced onto the streets, a destitute. Along the way, Blanc takes a peek at the nature of celebrity, stardom and towards the end, even has Philippe Noiret deliver a tirade on the demise of French cinema, helpless against the relentless assault of Hollywood. As they walk towards the Arc de Triomphe, Noiret launches into a scathing parody of Hollywood movie dialogue peppered with American curses and swear words, saying that this is all you hear in French cinemas today. He goes on, "We'll all end up as mice in their amusement parks". This is a hilarious movie but also a painful one, and a movie that would probably mean more to a French audience than to foreign ones. There are lots of in-jokes related to French cinema and self-referential comments. A familiarity with French cinema is not a must but it would add greatly to your enjoyment of it. The film itself I would give 4.5 stars.

With regards to this 2005 DVD, this is the exact same DVD released several years ago by Buena Vista. It is absolutely bare-bones. No insert, no extras save for 3 self-serving promo trailers advertising unrelated Miramax releases. Worse still, it is in the wrong aspect ratio. The original theatrical aspect ratio is supposed to be 1.85:1. The DVD transfer is however cropped to 1.66:1 (Standard European TV screen). It is non-anamorphic (NOT enhanced for widescreen TV). The picture quality is just passable. The original color scheme is already rather drab but the transfer makes it positively flat. There are scattered nicks and specks throughout the print. As Buena Vista is a Disney affiliate, I can see where their stick-it-to-the-consumer attitude is from. Disney is notorious for releasing substandard DVDs with a couldn't-care-less attitude toward aspect ratios, print quality and transfer quality. Lately I've noticed Buena Vista (along with other studios) re-releasing their old DVD titles, advertised as supposedly "new" releases, without bothering to remaster them or improving on them in any way. The only good thing about this DVD is that it offers you the choice of removing the yellow English subtitles. This DVD deserves at most a rental recommendation. Better to wait till this film re-emerges under a different distibutor."

Hilarious!

dooby | 04/27/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Even though I didn't know who half these actors were, no matter. It's just as entertaining, witty and FULL of twists and turns. A very funny movie."