Faubourg 36 (2008)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Christophe Barratier

Writers:

Christophe Barratier (writer)
Pierre Philippe (dialogue)

Release Date:

24 September 2008 (Belgium)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Producer | Fascism | Robbery | Shot In The Chest | Alcoholism

Awards:

3 wins & 5 nominations

US Showtimes:

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Cast

Gérard Jugnot	...	Pigoil
Clovis Cornillac	...	Milou
Kad Merad	...	Jacky
Nora Arnezeder	...	Douce
Pierre Richard	...	Monsieur TSF
Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu	...	Galapiat
Maxence Perrin	...	Jojo
François Morel	...	Célestin
Élisabeth Vitali	...	Viviane
Christophe Kourotchkine	...	Lebeaupin
Eric Naggar	...	Grevoul
Eric Prat	...	Commissaire Tortil
Julien Courbey	...	Mondain
Philippe Du Janerand	...	Triquet
Marc Citti	...	L'inspecteur du Quai des Orfèvres

Also Known As:

Paríz 36 (Czech Republic)
Paris 36 (International: English title)
Paris, Paris - Monsieur Pigoil auf dem Weg zum Glück (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sexuality and nudity, violence and brief language.

Runtime:

Canada:120 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | Argentina:120 min | USA:120 min

Country:

France | Germany | Czech Republic

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | USA:PG-13 | Germany:6 | Australia:M | Argentina:13 | Czech Republic:12 | Hong Kong:IIA

Filming Locations:

Prague, Czech Republic

Company:

Blue Screen Productions

Paris by numbers

Following on from his well-deserved international success with "Les Choristes", writer-director Christophe Barratier returns with another slice of heavily sugared French social history in "Faubourg 36". The movie, which has rather pointlessly been re-titled "Paris 36" for its release in English-speaking territories, revolves around the performers and stage-hands at the Chansonia, a music hall in a slightly down-at-heel district of the city. The year 1936 proves to be a fateful one in the theatre's history. Unscrupulous local politician and property owner Galapiat (Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu) forces the Chansonia to close, leaving its workers unemployed and near-destitute. The multi-stranded story focuses in particular on three of the music hall's denizens. Veteran stage manager Pigoil (Gérard Jugnot) finds his life has fallen apart not only because he is out of a job he had held for 35 years, but also because his glamorous wife has left him and, in short order, arranged for sole custody of their young accordion-playing son Jojo (Maxence Perrin). Meanwhile, the Chansonia's beloved but frankly dire entertainer Jacky (Kad Merad) struggles to find another booking, and trade unionist and stage technician Milou (Clovis Cornillac) tries to rouse the workers at the nearby laundry to strike action, clashing in the process with Galapiat's fascist task-force. Led by a suddenly emboldened Pigoil, the trio decide to occupy the theatre and resurrect it using talent that will perform for nothing. Will they manage to overcome the odds and revive the fortunes of their beloved theatre and neighbourhood? One late-comer to proceedings who may make all the difference is the singing beauty Douce (Nora Arnezeder), the object of both Milou and Galapiat's admiring attentions. And what part will be played by the reclusive and enigmatic 'Radio Man' (Pierre Richard), who observes all the drama from his house across the square?

With a considerably enlarged budget at his disposal, Barratier has been blessed with a production design to die for, and all the technical contributions that have gone into re-creating a picturesque and somewhat mythicised Paris of the 1930s are top notch. Unfortunately, Barratier's script - at least in translation - fails to populate his immaculate sets with characters that are particularly memorable, and fails to tell a story that is more than momentarily involving. I think the problem is that the film is not quite sure what it wants to be. Barratier keeps his most interesting character, 'Radio Man', in the background for far too long. The tone, meanwhile, shifts uneasily between drama, comedy, and a let's-put-on-a-show-style musical, without ever quite convincing as any of them. Certainly, the film gathers momentum towards the end when the music takes hold, suggesting "Faubourg 36" may have played more successfully with more songs than the scant handful we have. A completely unexpected Busby Berkeley-style production number is without doubt the most well-realised passage in the entire film.

The other problem, for me, is that Barratier's sentimentalism finally gets the better of him here. Undoubtedly with "Les Choristes" he dealt in unashamedly sentimental and even clichéd material, but the greater naturalism of that film, the energy of its mainly youthful cast and the soaring musical score ensured its success. Here, the essential artifice of the production renders the director's emotionalism manipulative and cloying. I don't doubt that Barratier's heart is in the right place, and as a director he is not without flair, but his evident desire to provide his audience with the cinematic equivalent of comfort food tends to undermine any ambition he may have to explore the deeper undercurrents of the stories he tells. As a social history, "Faubourg 36" barely scratches the surface of the working class lives it chronicles, or of the dark, anti-Semitic political currents brewing in pre-war France. And as an unironic homage to a vintage era of cinema, it ultimately fails because it is simply nowhere near as good as any of the classic films it imitates.