Iznogoud- Caliph Instead of the Caliph (2005)

A corrupt Vazeer (Minister) tries to get rid of the Caliph and gets away with every conspiracy until..

Director:

Patrick Braoudé

Writers:

René Goscinny (comic books), Jean Tabary (comic books)

Stars:

Michaël Youn, Arno Chevrier, Jacques Villeret

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michaël Youn	...	Iznogoud
Arno Chevrier	...	Dilat Laraht
Jacques Villeret	...	Haroun El Poussah
Fred Jaspart	...	Le prince sortilège
Bernard Farcy	...	Pullmankar
Maurice Lamy	...	Conseiller Pullmankar
Cécile Davidovici	...	Esclave douche
Mathias Jung	...	Le général Bohl
Eric Hémon	...	Le général Eparkreth
Franck Dubosc	...	Le chambellan du calife
Rufus	...	Le conseiller du calife
Sofia Essaïdi	...	Belbeth
Magloire Delcros-Varaud	...	L'eunuque en chef (as Magloire)
Mohamed Yazidi	...	Le maître du protocole
Jamal Lababsi	...	(as Jamal Laababsi)

Storyline

A corrupt Vazeer (Minister) tries to get rid of the Caliph and gets away with every conspiracy until..

---

Plot Keywords:

character name as title | sultan | based on comic | based on comic book | based on franco belgian comic book | 

---

Genres:

Comedy | Family | Fantasy

---

Did You Know?

Connections

Version of Iznogoud (1995)

---

Soundtracks

Iznogoud
Written by Michaël Youn, Patrick Braoudé and Lord Kossity
Composed by William Geslin, Dominique Gauriaud and Diego Dari
Performed by Michaël Youn & Lord Kossity
© 2004 Jam Block / Vertigo Productions

User Reviews

Plenty of potential, but wasted and squandered never the less

Being a fan of "Asterix", "Lucky Luke" and not least "Iznogoud" (here in Germany spelled "Isnogud"), its quiet surprising that I came around so late to watch this film. Or perhaps not such a big surprise at all, considering that I've been more or less disappointed by most real-life-adaptations of said comics. Hence, I didn't watch with too high an expectation and left not quite as disappointed as I had expected – but disappointed nevertheless.

I'd agree with most points of criticism that the other reviewers here have pointed out, but would defend Jacques Villeret, who looks like he was born to play the part of the peaceful, tranquil yet rather simple Caliph (and that may sound a little off-place, considering that this was his final role). Michael Youn as titular character, well, not as bad as made out to be, but then again not exactly living up to the comic-Iznogoud either. Too young, in my opinion, and far removed from the figure, that's slimy, scheming, choleric, treacherous and of course likable as an anti-hero can get. I don't blame it too much on the cast though and rather on the lazy script-writing (it would appear that Patrick Braoude has only glanced over the source-material and/or didn't understand it) and Braoude being the wrong man for the job of directing this in the first place.

Not being all too familiar with his prior work, it would appear that Braoude is more at home at children's movies and RomComs, which shines through in "Iznogoud" but really has no place in an adaptation. Call me naïve, but when adapting from a different media, especially one that is so popular and beloved as the "Iznogoud"-comics, I would presume that you primarily want to reach the fans of the source-material. Here we get the impression that the producers reasoned, "oh well, the fans will go and watch it one way or the other, just on account of the title. Let's make it hip and flashy, and see how the kiddies will buy it". Whether the kiddies bought it or not, I cannot tell but I sure know that the fans came, saw and were generally not too amused.

Evidence for this chumming up (no better way to describe it) are the often raunchy one-liners, which may have come from a certain orifice of Braoude, but certainly not the comic. They replaced the often witty, double-meaning dialogues of the source, and are nowhere to be found here. Another piece of evidence (just to point out one), is the "Pretty Woman" dance-sequence, which reeks of pandering to youngsters and is plainly embarrassing for all involved. A rule of thumb: keep song-and-dance-routines out of material where they don't belong and instead keep them, where they belong: in musicals. NOT "Iznogoud"-adaptations! Speaking about pandering: though the film didn't even make it into German cinema (strange but telling, considering how popular the comics are), they did release it on DVD, and of course synchronized it with local voice-overs. From all the competent speakers and comedians, they opted for people like Rick Kavanian and Rüdiger Hoffmann. I doubt that many people from the generation of "Iznogoud"-fans will have gained as much as a smirk from their form of comedy usually referred to as "grimacing" and "vulgar slapstick". Sure, kids enjoy that for reasons of their own, but hearing their voices over the character, probably drove home the final nail of the coffin.

I'd give it 4/10 for good costumes, nice design, the settings and the attempt of the actors to make the best of what they were given to work with; but I certainly won't give it a second view.

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

14 January 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Iznogoud

Filming Locations:

Morocco

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$18,725,588

Company Credits

Production Co:

Vertigo, TF1 International, L'Arbre et la Colombe

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1