Reviews & Ratings for
The Fairy More at IMDbPro »La fée (original title)

20 out of 27 people found the following review useful:
If A Town Called Panic were played out for real in Le Havre, 16 October 2011
Author: Framescourer from London, UK

A hugely enjoyable, loony French physical comedy, The Fairy concerns a ditzy love affair played out between the eponymous fairy godmother wish-granter and the night watchman of an hotel. A system of equally altered-reality characters circle these two: African asylum seekers; hospital inpatients and staff; a female rugby team (Les Dieselles. No, really). Episode by episode the comic narrative plays itself out, in a mixture of Jacques Tati sight gags and Pina Bausch- style movement and choreography. Abel, Gordon and Romy (the actors- director)'s camera acts like the hands of the illusionist, framing and focusing on the action, the participants, the limits and contents of the jokes, irrespective of anything else - including the rest of the film - around them. It's escapist fun of a pure dimension, escaping even the strictures of the causal narrative about itself. Light and warm, like the summer breeze on the cliffs of Le Havre. 6/10

16 out of 20 people found the following review useful:
Unexpected delight, 25 April 2012

Author: Felix-28 from Melbourne, Australia

To tell the truth, I only saw the second half of this film. It was on cable TV and I flicked onto it. I almost turned it off straight away, but while my finger was hovering over the button I found, to my surprise, that I was smiling; and then, to my even greater surprise, I laughed out loud.

I'm not generally a fan of French comedies. Far to many of them seem to think that it's funny to watch people shouting at each other as a result of some ridiculous misunderstanding. But occasionally there's one that's less aggressive, more subtle, and this is one of them. "Subtle" is probably not a word that would normally be used to describe the purely visual and physical humour of this film, but for me there was subtlety in the way the physical contortions of the two lead characters were performed without flamboyance or theatricality, and used to create situations that were totally unexpected.

Although not generally a fan of French comedies, I am certainly a fan of French cinema in general. One of the reasons for that is its ability to produce the occasional offbeat gem, like this one. It's funny, it's innocent and it's warm-hearted. I liked it a lot.

12 out of 13 people found the following review useful:
Charming, inventive near silent comedy, 18 August 2012

Author: runamokprods from US

Once again the performing/writing and directing team of Abel, Gordon, and Romy deliver a sweet, gentle, charming comedy, that while having dialogue, is most akin to the silent comedy classics.

As with their earlier films "L'iceberg" and "Rumba", the film is a hit and miss affair - but with many more hits than misses. A long string of silly sight gags, dances, absurd and surreal moments with a slim thread of a plot tying them together; A sad-sack hotel manager falls for a woman who may be an actual fairy. Or just a crazy person. Or maybe both.

Along their way they encounter a host of mostly very funny characters, like the nearly blind-owner of their favorite café, who is always right at the edge of spilling everything. (One of those jokes that could fail badly, or get old quickly if it wasn't pulled off with such deft precision, and big heartedness.)

There are a few inspired, laugh out loud comedy bits, many others that are sweetly enjoyable, and a few that just fall flat.

But while this may be a bit inconsistent, how lovely to see a comedy that aspires to Chaplin and Keaton and not American Pie 5.

Happiness, 10 May 2013

Author: Uriah Piddle from Shawangunk, N.Y.

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

So God created a fairy but before the fairy has much of a chance to learn the ropes, the world locks her up in an asylum. But the fairy escapes and comes to the gentle, lonely hotel night clerk. She grants him wishes, she saves him from choking on his midnight snack, she brings a giving, almost motherly kind of love into his life. That's the bones of this beautiful love story and if you like love stories, please see it. As to the details, there are many laughs. I'm a big Tati fan and his influence is all over this film. But the sight gags as well the the movement in general are much more pronounced than what you find in 'Mr. Hulot's Holiday' or 'Mon Oncle'. Where Tati is for smiles, 'The Fairy' is for laughs. Fiona Gordon, who plays the fairy (she also co-wrote and co-directed the movie with her husband, Dom Abel) is all over the place with her gangley arms and legs. Sometimes she looks like a gooney bird trying to take flight. And she has the kind of homely face that translates to transcendent beauty. The dance numbers are wonderful. This is modern dance without that deadening seriousness about itself that you see too much of on public TV. Some reviewers have stated that some of the gags fall flat. That might happen if you don't let Fiona and Dom borrow your heart. Lend them your heart and the obvious intent of this wonderful film -- to make you happy -- will be fulfilled.

2 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Wild Outrageous Slapstick French Farce That is Just Not That Funny, 17 November 2012

Author: Larry Silverstein from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I found this French-Belgian over the top slapstick farce, starring Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon, unfortunately to not be that funny.There were certain parts of the film that I did find quite humorous, but they weren't sustained throughout the movie.

Abel is a night desk clerk at a small hotel, in Le Havre. One evening Gordon comes to the hotel saying she is a fairy and offering to fulfill three wishes for Abel. But alas it seems she's an escapee from a mental hospital down the road from the hotel.

All sorts of wild adventures ensue with lots of wacky characters and humor added to the mix.

Since this film received apparently a number of festival awards and favorable reviews I'd have to say I was disappointed that it didn't click for me in the end.

4 out of 17 people found the following review useful:
Kooky rom-com- do fairies exist or are they stark raving mad?, 8 August 2012
Author: bonjour_tristesse71 from United Kingdom

Although this film contains one of the best images I have ever seen in a film ( the tug of war contest over our lovers embracing) the humour was cartoonish tom-foolery. The audience quickly grew tired at being told when to laugh; all that was missing was a drum roll and symbol crash.The audience was left cringing in pro- longed,embarrassed silence. It seemed every bit- actor wanted the camera's attention for as long as possible adding to the squirm in the seat factor. Our lovers were more like elongated, gangly ,naive siblings. Pointless sub-plots add to the surreal feel of the film. There were lots of nods to the silent era ( our heroes are mime artists, so not fully surprising) but there was no mastery of subtlety- unlike Le Havre. Sweet but full of eye-rollingly excruciating moments.

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