Man to Man (2005)

Director:

Régis Wargnier

Writers:

William Boyd (writer)
Michel Fessler (screenplay)

Release Date:

13 April 2005 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

An epic about anthropologists who hunt and capture pygmies for study back in Europe, in an attempt to illustrate the link between man and ape.

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Joseph Fiennes	...	Jamie Dodd
Kristin Scott Thomas	...	Elena Van Den Ende
Iain Glen	...	Alexander Auchinleck
Hugh Bonneville	...	Fraser McBride
Lomama Boseki	...	Toko
Cécile Bayiha	...	Likola
Flora Montgomery	...	Abigail McBride
Patrick Mofokeng	...	Zachary
Alistair Petrie	...	Beckinsale
Hubert Saint-Macary	...	Comte de Verchemont
Mathew Zajac	...	Hector Duncan
William McBain	...	Angus
Robin Smith	...	Douglas
Theo Landey	...	Purvis
Ron Donachie	...	Sir Walter Stephenson

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

France | South Africa | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Brazil:14 | Hungary:14 | Argentina:13 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud)

Filming Locations:

Bristo Square, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

Company:

Vertigo Productions

Trivia:

visa d'exploitation en France #97135

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Likola shoots Douglas in the cage trap/fight scene, she is using a model 1873 Colt Single Action Army revolver (a.k.a. "The Peacemaker"), an evident mistake since the action is clearly stated to be set in the year 1870.

Quotes:

Jamie Dodd: [after capturing Likola] The whole world's been looking for you. And I'm the one who found you.
Likola: ...
Jamie Dodd: I'm going to call you America. You are my America, and by God, I'm your Christopher Columbus.

Soundtrack:

Three blind mice

The wild children

In 1969,Truffault made a movie about a wild child: a brat who,since he was a baby ,used to live in the woods.People took him to a hospital,where people would pay to see him like a queer animal.A doctor ,Itard knew that this child was a human being.He took him to his home and began to "tame" him.He realized that his protégé could tell right from wrong:he had proved he was a human like you or me.

Regis Wargnier tells a similar story with his couple of pygmies .He pits a loyal scientist (Fiennes) against the old guard who is still thinking that those natives are the missing link between the big apes and Lucy .Nowadays scientists tend to think that there is actually ONE race but it was the nineteenth century then.The story is never boring and features some good scenes: the natives in front of the sea saying "this is our river" ;the male pygmy climbing on the mast of the ship;the scene in the zoo where Fiennes "tames" his protégés and thus reveals they can think.

The main problem is that the movie is too "Hollywoodian" .Truffaut's work was produced by an American firm ,but he remained himself and his film was austere,realistic and accessible though.Wargnier's work is too flashy ,putting the emphasis on the good guy /"villains" fight and not giving enough time to Fiennes /the pygmies relationship.A firm friendship/ communication cannot be established overnight.It took time to Itard to gain Victor's trust (the wild child) ,and Annie Sullivan ("the miracle worker")had to fight (physically) to be able to communicate with Helen Keller.When Scott- Thomas tries to teach arithmetic (or tries to communicate through arithmetic:I've read that pygmies know only two numbers :one and many)to the pygmy woman ,the sequence is much too short.This is those scenes the film desperately needs.

Entertaining,but Regis Wargnier got caught up into the Hollywood machine.