Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
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Nils Hugon | ... | Poucet |
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Raphaël Fuchs-Willig | ... | Pierrot (as Raphaël Fuchs) |
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William Touil | ... | Martin |
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Pierre-Augustin Crenn | ... | Jacques |
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Théodule Carré-Cassaigne | ... | Joseph |
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Hanna Berthaut | ... | Rose, la fille de l'ogre |
Romane Bohringer | ... | La mère de Poucet | |
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Pierre Berriau | ... | Le père de Poucet |
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Dominique Hulin | ... | L'ogre |
Élodie Bouchez | ... | La femme de l'ogre | |
Samy Naceri | ... | Le soldat à la jambe de fer | |
Catherine Deneuve | ... | La reine | |
Saïd Taghmaoui | ... | Le chef de troupe | |
Clément Sibony | ... | Le soldat mourant | |
Carlo Brandt | ... | Le cavalier |
Poucet is a kid from a family of numerous children. The parents, too poor to feed them, decide to abandon them in the forest. There, the brothers try to find their way out making fantastic encounters. This film is based on the French fairy tale "Le petit poucet" by Charles Perrault. Written by marylinep
This family is so poor that Tom's father (a very practical man) decides that his five sons should be taken into the forest and left there to be devoured by wolves. There's an ogre in the forest too that Tom fears, but Tom's father says "Be more afraid of a failed harvest, for then we have nothing to eat".
The ogre is a terrifying individual of gigantic proportions and huge teeth. His savage roar is so loud the earth seems to shudder. Although the brothers are chased by wolves, their flight from the ogre is far more terrifying. The most exciting part of the film takes us to a craggy mountain where the brothers stumble up among the sharp and slippery rocks attempting to escape from the ferocity of the ogre. As they slip and slide we fear that at any moment they will drop to their deaths from a mountain ledge.
Because Tom is small he often has to do the dirty work such as crawling through tiny apertures. Despite his small stature, Tom seems the bravest of the lot. And when he gets hold of the magical seven league boots, he literally takes flight.
The sets and lighting complement the telling of the fairy tale. There is a surreal feel about the whole presentation. Photographic images are super-imposed in rapid succession with the boys screaming and the ogre roaring. We cannot see the detail but we know full well that a terrible struggle is taking place.
I am not sure that young children should watch this film. When the ogre gives the brothers shelter for the night and orders his wife to cook them for breakfast, it is to say the least very unsettling. For grown-ups it is a stark reminder of our early days and explains perhaps why so many of us are afraid of the dark.