36 reviews
I saw "Zazie" in Paris in 1962, and my French at that time was rudimentary. Nevertheless, for sheer manic energy, wonderful visual comedy, and performances that transcended the language barrier, I loved it. I've seen it since and still love it. Among its other virtues for me, this film introduced me to the marvelous actor Philippe Noiret. Malle proved to be a director with virtually unlimited range with respect to style and mood. Consider some of his other fine films: "Lacombe, Lucien," "Atlantic City," "Murmur of the Heart," and "My Dinner with Andre," to name only a few. I guess what Richard Lester did with the Beatles might be close to this when it comes to sheer antic charm, but I think "Zazie"still stands alone. Unless you have zero tolerance for whimsy and insist on Deep Meaning in your movies, I think that you're likely to enjoy this one...if you can find it.
For a long time I'd only heard vague things about this movie, but it was all very fawning and I had the sense that it was Malle's masterpiece. Then I saw a trailer that Criterion put together and my hopes were dashed. It just looked incredibly obnoxious. So I was steeling myself for a trying experience. In actuality, it's a mix of my premature impressions. Something like a Looney Tunes cartoon come to life, the film is bursting with colorful scenes, zany action, sight gags, slapstick, wordplay (much of which I assume is lost in translation), irreverent humor and wild camera tricks. I have to applaud the energy and inventiveness that Malle brings to the screen, it's a unique, anarchic and bold film with echoes in Tati, Jeunet and others. However, it's still a bit obnoxious. It's a weird sensation to be simultaneously charmed and annoyed, but very little of the comedy appealed to my sense of humor. It's all too wacky and madcap. Like HELLZAPOPPIN', I admire the spirit of it and kind of had fun with certain parts, but I doubt I would ever sit through it again.
- MartinTeller
- Jan 9, 2012
- Permalink
Frankly, in the world of corny jokes and lightweight punchlines of the Hollywood comedies I hunger for the good old French physical comedy. Malle is one of the best ju-ju men in the business and in Zazie laughs never stop. Actually, in this movie anything ever stops as people are running rather then walking and driving rather than sitting still. The story is quite simple, a little girl is sent by her mother to Paris to her uncle and the only thing she wants really is to see subway (metro). Of course she runs away, of course everybody starting after her, of course there are some dumb cops and sinister-looking strangers... Or maybe I got it all wrong for having laughed so hard I could not read the subtitles (and my French would barely guide me through a menu in some bistro). Think of it as a live action Roadrunner movie on caffeine...
- grendel-28
- May 22, 1999
- Permalink
A product of the French New Wave, this movie is more than 40 years old, but it still has the powers to make you leave your mouth open, either to laugh or just to be in awe. Extremely different from anything you can find on the screens today, "Zazie" is able to entertain you even without a coherent plot or a bunch of lines that make sense. A dark-short-haired witty little girl goes around an extremely colorful Paris meeting unusual and funny people. Does this remind you of anything? Actually "Zazie" had already gone beyond the borders of the land that would be explored by "Amelie" 40 years later. Maybe this means that the future is behind our backs? It is time to turn around.
- marioonline
- Nov 26, 2003
- Permalink
Great cinema, with a wonderful exuberance and style. Louis Malle showed his great talent and versatility in this romp of cheeky comedy. Blessed with a Zazie that (for me ) captures the essence of the character originally created by Raymond Queneau, this is a 60's French film that continues to bring naive pleasure to those to whom it is a memory of the renaissance of French cinema in the early 60's, and (hopefully) will still retain a few inspirational moments for those see this movie thirty years on and who have had the benefit of later comedic directors who learned from this well-crafted and thoroughly entertaining movie.
"Zazie dans le Metro" is the kind of movie that owes its relative positive outcomes more to its style than to its comedy of errors kind of humor. Having been made as an American film and this would be considered a disaster. Why? It would lose in style, technique, good cultural references and meaningful message. Don't be fooled, "Zazie" has a message in between scenes. Despite an apparent lovely child as the main character and the apparent comedic routine of the film, this is more inclined to be a grown up's picture than one suitable for children - they can watch but the easily impressible ones in the audience will keep asking their parents the meaning some of the words used by the girl, many of them cursing. So, if you want to insist on watching this with a kid be warned that you're going to be just like the adult characters of this explaining everything to the kid.
It tells the story of a 12 year-old country girl (Catherine Demongeot) who is left with her uncle (Philippe Noiret), a performer artist, while her mother is spending a lovely time with her boyfriend. She flees from the house with the intent of taking the subway, but that plan fails because they're on a strike, so the rest of the movie is her sort of understandable childish behavior against the fact, so she explores the city and creates a lot of confusion against anyone she sees.
Cartoonish, filled of speed-up images, running as if it were an imitation of a Bugs Bunny gag, "Zazie dans le Métro" would be an interesting film if it had some coherence rather than just creating images just for fun. An adventurous piece about a girl discovering herself and learning about what growing up means, ultimate message of the film, would be great. The clownish tone of it was distractive and flat. I was reminded of "Amèlie", since it shared a young female's magical and unusual vision around a big city, it's her small world colliding very beautifully with other persons, other realities, forming a reflexive image about society. Both are colorful and fast paced works, carried with visual style and splendorous editing tricks. "Amèlie" is better because it has somewhere to go while "Zazie" is pure slapstick, losing humor the more it progresses.
It's not a bad movie, but it's not so dignifying of having a terrific director like Louis Malle writing and directing it and let's face it, humor doesn't suit him. His greatest works are all dramas (see "Au Revoir Les Enfants" or "Damage"). It's a good picture, indeed, genius in its creative compositions, elaborated sequences (the breathless one in the Eiffel Tower takes the cake), paying an homage to the silent era but it's a real tough break to endure the annoying little brat, her mannerisms and language (not believable in the 1960's context) which isn't funny or humored because she's mistreating people who are good to her and undeserving of such treatment.
I liked what I saw even though I laughed only once or twice. Mr. Noiret was a class act and made this a very enjoyable film along with the great locations. And don't be fooled by the false advertising, she only spends ten seconds in the subway and doesn't even notice. 6/10
It tells the story of a 12 year-old country girl (Catherine Demongeot) who is left with her uncle (Philippe Noiret), a performer artist, while her mother is spending a lovely time with her boyfriend. She flees from the house with the intent of taking the subway, but that plan fails because they're on a strike, so the rest of the movie is her sort of understandable childish behavior against the fact, so she explores the city and creates a lot of confusion against anyone she sees.
Cartoonish, filled of speed-up images, running as if it were an imitation of a Bugs Bunny gag, "Zazie dans le Métro" would be an interesting film if it had some coherence rather than just creating images just for fun. An adventurous piece about a girl discovering herself and learning about what growing up means, ultimate message of the film, would be great. The clownish tone of it was distractive and flat. I was reminded of "Amèlie", since it shared a young female's magical and unusual vision around a big city, it's her small world colliding very beautifully with other persons, other realities, forming a reflexive image about society. Both are colorful and fast paced works, carried with visual style and splendorous editing tricks. "Amèlie" is better because it has somewhere to go while "Zazie" is pure slapstick, losing humor the more it progresses.
It's not a bad movie, but it's not so dignifying of having a terrific director like Louis Malle writing and directing it and let's face it, humor doesn't suit him. His greatest works are all dramas (see "Au Revoir Les Enfants" or "Damage"). It's a good picture, indeed, genius in its creative compositions, elaborated sequences (the breathless one in the Eiffel Tower takes the cake), paying an homage to the silent era but it's a real tough break to endure the annoying little brat, her mannerisms and language (not believable in the 1960's context) which isn't funny or humored because she's mistreating people who are good to her and undeserving of such treatment.
I liked what I saw even though I laughed only once or twice. Mr. Noiret was a class act and made this a very enjoyable film along with the great locations. And don't be fooled by the false advertising, she only spends ten seconds in the subway and doesn't even notice. 6/10
- Rodrigo_Amaro
- Aug 2, 2013
- Permalink
In the early sixties, New Wave French Cinema were very serious about themselves, with Godard and Truffaut. But Louis Malle, who was from the same generation, don't take anything seriously in this unforgettable movie. I really love the viewer analogy with the Roadrunner! Everythings goes nuts in this movie: Sounds, situations, logic, actors. It reminds us of the Mack Sennett movies. It's also got a lot of charm for the very funny and smiling face of little Demongeot playing Zazie. And how about young Philippe Noiret? He will become one of the greatest French actor of all time. Like the Jacques Tati's movies of the same era, this comedy can't grow older. Seeing today is seeing it with the same joy as in 1960. A must!
- rmax304823
- Oct 9, 2015
- Permalink
This has to be seen to be believed! Malle seems just as well to be the victim of Zazie's dark whirlwind surrealism as the audience themselves. Never again achieved an adolescent movie character such an anarchic quality. Despite all the displays of technical outrageousness and pure buffoonery, the pic never feels as superficially sketch-like as many of Dick Lester's works. And the complete lack of warmheartedness is a relief in a picture featuring a young girl!
Now that's a truly original way to declass French bourgeoisie and throw an anti-Fascist pie in their faces! And it's one of the few hommages to silent comedy (amongst sundry allusions to cinema and social topics) that really work. And it's one of Malle's best.
9 out of 10 polar bears
Now that's a truly original way to declass French bourgeoisie and throw an anti-Fascist pie in their faces! And it's one of the few hommages to silent comedy (amongst sundry allusions to cinema and social topics) that really work. And it's one of Malle's best.
9 out of 10 polar bears
Films featuring metro are a sub genre in itself.In French cinema,2 of the most eccentric metro films are :subway and Zazie dans le métro.On the one hand "Subway" is more of an "in the metro" film,on the other hand "Zazie dans le métro" can be defined as something of "outside the metro" film.Nothing much happens in the metro itself.This is because in the film Parisian metro is just a metaphor in order to allow a young girl to explore the intricacies of the adults' behavior.The young girl whose role is nicely played by Catherine Demongeot is a veritable trouble maker.Although she is in Paris to enjoy her stay, she is more interested in pestering her uncle.Great French actor (now dead),Philippe Noiret plays the role of the hapless uncle who is absolutely at a loss as to how to reply to his niece's absurd questions.This film by Louis Malle is quite unusual as there is no other film which can match its spirit of freewheeling fun.For fact finders, the film is based on a novel by Raymond Queneau who was close to surrealist writers of his times.
- FilmCriticLalitRao
- Jul 23, 2007
- Permalink
Not being familiar with the French Wave comedies, such as this one, a wild comedy directed by Louis Malle, I didn't know what to expect of ZAZIE DANS LE METRO. PHILIPPE NOIRET is the unfortunate uncle in charge of taking care of a girl while her mother has other plans.
The Gallic humor is not only zany, it's also a bit on the puerile side. A little boy with a sign on him that says "Secondhand" is on display at a flea market. Little "Zazie" with the bawdy sense of humor and an adult's use of cuss words is funny at first but becomes tiresome by the time the story winds on and on about her wanting to escape from her "funny" uncle. The sight gags involving the girl running through a marketplace are enough to conjure up images of the French laughing at Jerry Lewis...for no good reason.
Malle throws in every possible prop for laughs, including fast-motion photography but the total effect is wearying.
Paris is a lovely city but it sure has its share of run-down interiors judging from the hotel settings and the residence of PHILLIPE NOIRET as the exasperated uncle. Interesting to note that Paris traffic was a huge headache even back in 1960. All of it is photographed in color with a style that's a cross between Charlie Chaplin's Keystone Cops comedies and the art of Jerry Lewis.
The uncle, it turns out, dances in drag in a nightclub but to bring in any more plot at this point is as senseless as the film, which tries hard to be charming in a Gallic way--but never quite makes it.
This one is strictly a matter of the viewer's taste. Some will love it, others won't even get through the first half-hour.
"I've had it with that brat!" cries a cabbie after spending time with Zazie. Me too.
The Gallic humor is not only zany, it's also a bit on the puerile side. A little boy with a sign on him that says "Secondhand" is on display at a flea market. Little "Zazie" with the bawdy sense of humor and an adult's use of cuss words is funny at first but becomes tiresome by the time the story winds on and on about her wanting to escape from her "funny" uncle. The sight gags involving the girl running through a marketplace are enough to conjure up images of the French laughing at Jerry Lewis...for no good reason.
Malle throws in every possible prop for laughs, including fast-motion photography but the total effect is wearying.
Paris is a lovely city but it sure has its share of run-down interiors judging from the hotel settings and the residence of PHILLIPE NOIRET as the exasperated uncle. Interesting to note that Paris traffic was a huge headache even back in 1960. All of it is photographed in color with a style that's a cross between Charlie Chaplin's Keystone Cops comedies and the art of Jerry Lewis.
The uncle, it turns out, dances in drag in a nightclub but to bring in any more plot at this point is as senseless as the film, which tries hard to be charming in a Gallic way--but never quite makes it.
This one is strictly a matter of the viewer's taste. Some will love it, others won't even get through the first half-hour.
"I've had it with that brat!" cries a cabbie after spending time with Zazie. Me too.
Raymond Queneau is my favorite writer. He was one of the rare giants of french litterature who could make you really laugh out loud while you were reading one of his classics.
ZAZIE DANS LE MÉTRO was his funniest novel, but if you are not fluent in french, you will miss a lot of the jokes; Queneau loved to play with the language.
Fortunately, Louis Malle has done a good job in adapting the humor of Queneau, translating the novel into a more visual, slapstick, cartoon-like movie. An intelligent comedy that is it's own unique category.
ZAZIE DANS LE MÉTRO was his funniest novel, but if you are not fluent in french, you will miss a lot of the jokes; Queneau loved to play with the language.
Fortunately, Louis Malle has done a good job in adapting the humor of Queneau, translating the novel into a more visual, slapstick, cartoon-like movie. An intelligent comedy that is it's own unique category.
- sm.starman
- Nov 1, 2000
- Permalink
In "Zazie dans le métro" we look at the world through the eyes of a child. In particular amorous behavior seems very strange from this perspective.
"Zazie dans le métro" is not the only and certainly not the best movie from the perspective of a child. I much prefer "Mon oncle" (1958, Jacques Tati).
'Zazie dans le métro" is also not a showpiece in the oeuvre of Louis Malle. In my opinion Malle was better in making films in which we look at the world of a child / boy through the eyes of an adult, such as "Lacombe Lucien" (1974)
Although Malle was never a real "Nouvelle vague" director, "Zazie dans le metro" fits seamlessly in the principles of this movement. We see things such as jumpcuts (just like in "Breathless" (1960, Jean Luc Godard)), stop motion photography and intended discontinuities. Routine technologies today, but very innovative in 1960.
The innovative and therefore sometimes confusing cinematography not only fits in well with the "Nouvelle vague" movement, but also with main character Zazie, who in essence is a French version of Pippi Longstocking.
"Zazie dans le métro" is not the only and certainly not the best movie from the perspective of a child. I much prefer "Mon oncle" (1958, Jacques Tati).
'Zazie dans le métro" is also not a showpiece in the oeuvre of Louis Malle. In my opinion Malle was better in making films in which we look at the world of a child / boy through the eyes of an adult, such as "Lacombe Lucien" (1974)
Although Malle was never a real "Nouvelle vague" director, "Zazie dans le metro" fits seamlessly in the principles of this movement. We see things such as jumpcuts (just like in "Breathless" (1960, Jean Luc Godard)), stop motion photography and intended discontinuities. Routine technologies today, but very innovative in 1960.
The innovative and therefore sometimes confusing cinematography not only fits in well with the "Nouvelle vague" movement, but also with main character Zazie, who in essence is a French version of Pippi Longstocking.
- frankde-jong
- Oct 16, 2020
- Permalink
This is one of the few movies on IMDb that I just couldn't finish watching--it was THAT bad. And, this is another example of a movie with reasonably decent IMDb reviews that seems way out of proportion. Even if it's not as bad as I think, it's hard to imagine it being a great film, that's for sure. But, once again I might just be an old crank. Read along and you be the judge.
This movie was directed by Louis Malle--a very well-respected director, to say the least. However, this film just doesn't show the talents that would be so evident in films like AU REVOIR LES ENFANTS. This film just looks lousy by modern standards of film making--not especially professional or polished. This is because so much in the film is telegraphed and painfully slapstick. And, at times, the camera and music speed up to let us know "it's time to laugh"--like what you might expect in a high school pageant when someone is doing a lame Charlie Chaplin impersonation. Then, when you combine this very broad humor(?) with a foul-mouthed little brat, you have the ingredients of a thoroughly unappealing,...nay, annoying film. Stupid and unfunny slapstick and an annoying brat--it's like watching a 90 minute migraine! This movie, like the French love of Jerry Lewis, is something I just don't get.
This movie was directed by Louis Malle--a very well-respected director, to say the least. However, this film just doesn't show the talents that would be so evident in films like AU REVOIR LES ENFANTS. This film just looks lousy by modern standards of film making--not especially professional or polished. This is because so much in the film is telegraphed and painfully slapstick. And, at times, the camera and music speed up to let us know "it's time to laugh"--like what you might expect in a high school pageant when someone is doing a lame Charlie Chaplin impersonation. Then, when you combine this very broad humor(?) with a foul-mouthed little brat, you have the ingredients of a thoroughly unappealing,...nay, annoying film. Stupid and unfunny slapstick and an annoying brat--it's like watching a 90 minute migraine! This movie, like the French love of Jerry Lewis, is something I just don't get.
- planktonrules
- Mar 13, 2006
- Permalink
This movie is not only not funny, but clumsy, stupid, and irritating. We have found, however, that it does serve one purpose: we use it as a way to get our son to behave, by threatening to make him watch it.
Unusual Malle.
The film is good, it goes by relatively fast, it has that early nouvelle vague charm that i find very difficult not to be amazed by and is overall a lot of fun.
I have some complains about it though.
Some of the jokes, namely the restaurant destruction one, seem gratuitous and go on for a lot more time than they actually should. Other than that i think i don't really like the way women are portrayed in this, i mean, Zazie is great and i love the way they made her smart and shameless, but like le quatre cent coups her mother is a bit demonized. So instead of showing how smart and cool Zazie is, the film actually seems to show that this sort of behaviour was caused by her mother's carelessness. So in the end, the best thing about this film, that being Zazie's character is canceled out by a moralistic kind of misogynistic undertone.
But anyway, really good, fun film, and if you can ignore the traditional family values undertone you might enjoy it even more than i did.
But anyway, really good, fun film, and if you can ignore the traditional family values undertone you might enjoy it even more than i did.
- RaulFerreiraZem
- Sep 3, 2019
- Permalink
I've just seen this movie on DVD and enjoyed the humor and wit. According to some Dutch and French web-pages like http://perso.orange.fr/cinefrance/1960/zazie.html Zazie is not played by 12yo Catherine but by a 9½yo Milène, what seems right to me by the looks of her, she's definitely too petite for a 12yo, age 9 or 10 seems much more likely. In the trailer she is described as a 9½yo too. Her lines seem a little too adult now and then, but bear in mind who wrote the scenario! Louis Malle was famous for breaking taboos. This movie was intended for enjoyment, like a comedy, but with a sharp view on the changing French society. Also some comments on hypocritical ways of dealing with taboos like homosexuality and "dirty old men". Funny to see the traffic congestion in Paris, already then, and the looney effects, inspired by Tex Avery.
When the mother of Zazie comes to Paris to meet her lover, she leaves her daughter with her uncle Gabriel. However the reckless and uncontrollable niece leaves Gabriel's apartment and decides to visit Paris by subway.
Some reviewers see in this film the roots of "Amelie". Others may see a very French version of "Catcher in the Rye", albeit nowhere near as dark. What we certainly have is a fast-paced slapstick screwball film of a little girl in a big city where nothing goes right. And also a sheep or a dog or something.
While the film is not heavily structured in any narrative sense, it is quite fun in how it uses stream of consciousness to tell its tale. In a way, the sum is greater than its parts because the story is the experience itself.
Some reviewers see in this film the roots of "Amelie". Others may see a very French version of "Catcher in the Rye", albeit nowhere near as dark. What we certainly have is a fast-paced slapstick screwball film of a little girl in a big city where nothing goes right. And also a sheep or a dog or something.
While the film is not heavily structured in any narrative sense, it is quite fun in how it uses stream of consciousness to tell its tale. In a way, the sum is greater than its parts because the story is the experience itself.
Since I first heard about "Zazie dans le métro" I wanted to watch it. Seven months ago, a cult-cultural-theatre from Rio de Janeiro re-launched "Zazie" and when I saw the advertisement I just thought: what a fun and strange movie! Look at its name: "Zazie No Metrô" (the same, zazie in the subway)! Look at this little girl, at her face, and the plot! Well, only 3 days ago I finally watched it at a Brazilian cable-tv station, Eurochannel, that shows only European movies and shows. For instance, in Eurochannel I watched all these "critics-loved" and "European-festival-winners" such as Festen, La Double Vie de Veronique, Ma vie en Rose (great film), Entre Tinieblas (Almodovar!), Breaking the Waves, Bent, and a lot, I mean a lot of movies made by François Truffaut: L'Amour in Fuite, Tirez sur le Pianiste, Baisers Volés, Domicile Conjugal, Les Deux Anglaises Et Le Continent, Les 400 Coups, Jules et Jim, La Femme D'À Côté, Le Dernier Métro... just in November! And, I don't know why, they aired 6 Hitchcock's films although they were made in USA. Euro is just great. And seeing that Zazie would be aired at it was great. I thought: If it is in Eurochannel, it must be good...
And "Zazie" is really very good! The beginning is simply hilarious with unforgettable scenes. Zazie running away in Paris while a friend of his uncle try to catch her and then a man that she stoled a jeans is the best of all, showing her laughs, she appearing and then disappearing, like a cartoon. Then she walks in Paris finding even more strange people. But unfortunately, after 1 hour it starts to be quite boring. Zazie stops to do her smart comments while the others characters talk more and more culminating in a crazy fight with all of them in a restaurant. And suddenly, it ends with a memorable quote of Zazie. Watch it to see.
But the biggest surprise was when I realized that the director of "Zazie dans le métro" was Louis Malle and that he had directed the touching "Au revoir les enfants" too, that I watched only 1 month ago. It's fun to see how Louis made such different films: while "Zazie" is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen, "Au revoir les enfants" is one of the sadder. "Au revoir" is dark, gloomy, touching and dramatic (and very beautiful too). So, I wouldn't recommend only "Zazie" but "Au revoir les enfants" too. They're very different but they have one thing in common: they're great.
And "Zazie" is really very good! The beginning is simply hilarious with unforgettable scenes. Zazie running away in Paris while a friend of his uncle try to catch her and then a man that she stoled a jeans is the best of all, showing her laughs, she appearing and then disappearing, like a cartoon. Then she walks in Paris finding even more strange people. But unfortunately, after 1 hour it starts to be quite boring. Zazie stops to do her smart comments while the others characters talk more and more culminating in a crazy fight with all of them in a restaurant. And suddenly, it ends with a memorable quote of Zazie. Watch it to see.
But the biggest surprise was when I realized that the director of "Zazie dans le métro" was Louis Malle and that he had directed the touching "Au revoir les enfants" too, that I watched only 1 month ago. It's fun to see how Louis made such different films: while "Zazie" is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen, "Au revoir les enfants" is one of the sadder. "Au revoir" is dark, gloomy, touching and dramatic (and very beautiful too). So, I wouldn't recommend only "Zazie" but "Au revoir les enfants" too. They're very different but they have one thing in common: they're great.
- Artêmis
- Jan 9, 2000
- Permalink
In this rowdy little half-gem of a comedy, Louise Malle observes the city of Paris and the people in it in a Chaplinesque manner. He draws inspiration from silent era comedies and short-format cartoons in everything from the absurd narrative and the fast-paced, sometimes illogical editing to the music and sound effects. Little 10-year-old Zazie is like Jerry Mouse as she impudently runs around the streets of Paris scolding and exposing the weaknesses of her elders and various provisional guardians. Malle's abrasive style most definitely isn't for everyone, but there's so much going on here, in the foreground as well as in the background, that you'll never find yourself bored or feel you have it figured out. For two-thirds of its running time, Zazie works because it's always on the move, always in pursuit of the next wild idea, composition or cut. It's an influx of impressions, and it's all done in good humour - right up until the ending when Malle runs out of things to say and the film loses its style and becomes a fuzzy and messy farce.
- fredrikgunerius
- Mar 17, 2023
- Permalink
When the mother of Zazie (Catherine Demongeot) comes to Paris to meet her lover, she leaves her daughter with her uncle Gabriel (Philippe Noiret). However the reckless and uncontrollable nephew leaves Gabriel's apartment and decides to visit Paris by subway. However the employees are on strike and the runaway girl gets Gabriel into trouble in a chaotic Paris.
"Zazie Dans le Metro" is a surrealistic, bizarre and annoying comedy "à la Mel Brooks". This type of humor might works for Parisians or even Europeans, but I really did not like it. The lead character is irritating and Catherine Demongeot is not funny. My vote is four.
Title (Brazil): Not Available
"Zazie Dans le Metro" is a surrealistic, bizarre and annoying comedy "à la Mel Brooks". This type of humor might works for Parisians or even Europeans, but I really did not like it. The lead character is irritating and Catherine Demongeot is not funny. My vote is four.
Title (Brazil): Not Available
- claudio_carvalho
- Feb 18, 2009
- Permalink
- writers_reign
- Oct 1, 2005
- Permalink
Disappointed by a metro strike, Zazie (Catherine Demongeot), 10 years old and a bit of a brat, decides to take a tour Paris anyway, during which she encounters numerous strange sights, surreal situations, and offbeat characters. Louis Malle's comedy mixes cartoon-like slapstick and social satire, none of which I found particularly funny (although not being too familiar with Paris in the 1960s and watching an English subtitled version, I could well have missed the more clever or subtle jokes). All in all, not to my taste - a more interesting than amusing film that I'd neither condemn nor recommend. Some viewers may find the title character off-putting, especially her tendency to make allegations of child-molestation in order to get her own way.
- jamesrupert2014
- Sep 11, 2022
- Permalink
I don't particularly relish being the odd man out here but a I found this film exhausting to watch. It is amusing however to see the author show off his stuff with the camera and editing and in fact parts of it DO look Nouvelle Vaguish. Even by French standards the girl here - Zazie - has a foul mouth and her insolence does wear on the nerves quite a bit even by midway through the viewing. The film is or isn't going somewhere/ nowhere very, very fast. In all honesty this is nothing next to "Lacombe Lucien" or "Au Revoir Les Enfants" or even "Atlantic City" where Malle practically glows in the dark. It feels to me like a film with a few skits that's been pumped up to the length of a full-length movie and I found myself really rather happy to see all the action come to a halt. Tant pis!
- cstotlar-1
- Jan 26, 2015
- Permalink