Angel-A (2005)

A beautiful woman helps an inept scam artist get his game together.

Director:

Luc Besson

Writer:

Luc Besson

Stars:

Rie Rasmussen, Jamel Debbouze, Gilbert Melki

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jamel Debbouze	...	André Moussah
Rie Rasmussen	...	Angel-A
Gilbert Melki	...	Franck
Serge Riaboukine	...	Pedro
Akim Chir	...	Le chef des malfrats
Eric Balliet	...	Garde du corps Franck
Loïc Pora	...	Le malfrat #2
Venus Boone	...	La mère d'Angela
Jérôme Guesdon	...	Le malfrat #3
Michel Bellot	...	Le planton US
Michel Chesneau	...	Le flic commissariat
Olivier Claverie	...	Le sécrétaire US
Solange Milhaud	...	La femme de Saint-Lazare
Laurent Jumeaucourt	...	Le dragueur
Franck-Olivier Bonnet	...	Le dernier client

Storyline

André, a small-time ex-convict, seems to owe money to everyone in Paris, including a crime boss who promises to kill him if he doesn't repay him by midnight. After failing to find protection from the American embassy and the French police, a despairing André scrambles onto a bridge over the Seine, intending to leap to his death. He is surprised to see a tall, beautiful girl clinging to a rail on the same bridge, apparently preparing to end her life as well. She jumps, and he jumps too, suddenly resolving to save her life. After scrambling ashore, she tells him her name is Angel-A. Together, they take a cruise on the Seine, repay André's creditors, visit a Parisian nightspot, and more, as Angel-A helps André. He learns that for this purpose she has fallen out of the sky and into his life. André finds himself falling in love with this mysterious beauty.

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Plot Keywords:

seine | money | olive oil | blonde | liar | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some sexual content

Did You Know?

Trivia

Luc Besson once claimed that he would only ever direct a maximum of 10 films. Angel-A (2005) is his tenth movie. Obviously Besson has broken that promise - the 2013 release of The Family (2013) marked his 16th film.

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Goofs

When Andre is talking with Angel-a right after her rescue, his necklaces changes position in and out of his shirt.

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Quotes

Angel-A: If I give you my life, would you know what to do with it?
André: If you give a donkey a carrot, he'll know what to do with it.

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Connections

Referenced in Comme au cinéma: Episode dated 13 December 2005 (2005)

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Soundtracks

La Mer
Music by Charles Trenet
Lyrics by Charles Trenet
Performed by Charles Trenet

User Reviews

A movie about ethics, i.e. about how to be better human beings.

Angel-a can be described as a romantic comedy, as a movie about angels and as one about therapy. As a romantic comedy it is a good and charming film, which stands far away from the omnipresent and boring Hollywood romantic comedies. As a movie about angels it is not convincing, and the best it can be said in its favour is that the movie is an heterodox rendering of angels, half divine and half too-human.

But the best use that can be given to this film is to adopt it as a manual of cognitive or rational-emotive therapy. A well respected field within psychology, cognitive therapy looks for transforming distorted thinking, which it is said, affects the mood, the behaviour and the life of people. That is simply what Angel-a does with Andre, giving him reasons to love himself, and teaching him techniques to change the way he thinks or speaks of himself. If we go to cinema some times to enjoy ourselves and some times to bring something to our lives, this movie allows us to do both. Art and cinema have also ethical consequences -in the sense of Foucault- giving us clues about how to live our lives better. In this sense the best description of Angel-a is given above by Elizabeth Arthur when she says that this is "a film about learning to love yourself".

Only one question remains: Why a director like Besson, who has been making movies about violence, decides to read about cognitive therapy and bring angels to earth and make a film like this?

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [France]

Country:

France

Language:

French Spanish

Release Date:

21 December 2005 (France)

Also Known As:

Angel-A

Filming Locations:

Montmartre, Paris 18, Paris, France

Box Office

Budget:

EUR15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$29,727, 27 May 2007

Gross USA:

$202,647

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$9,995,168

Company Credits

Production Co:

EuropaCorp, TF1 Films Production, Apipoulaï

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX DTS-ES

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1