Monsieur Batignole | Review

A little sugar-coating and a pinch of drama make Jugnot’s Batignole an enjoyable film.

My first viewing of the 26th edition of the Montreal World Film Festival came with a brief comedic presentation-in French, from director and star Gérard Jugnot for his charming family drama, one more big-screen example that documents the heroics found in the Second World War. Monsieur Batignole is the French Cinema Paradiso of 2002, a film that follows the union between the cute trouble-making orphaned child and a man trying to earn an honest buck-or franc caught up in the role of a forced parent-like figure and as a man with a mission from the heart.

The film becomes a charmer as soon as the boy comes knocking at his door like a hungry puppy- the constant tension build-up scenes where you think that they will get caught is defused by funny breaking of tension sequences such as the impostor father and son team partaking in a little doctor playing on an SS officer, – a sequence which brought the house down. There are also the small ounces of Disney-like charm like the passing on of the toy soldiers and the arguments between Edmond and little Simon that mingle with the visually romantic Paris of that era-with the cobblestone storefronts, bickering French couples and chicken coupe basement set-ups. Jugnot proposes a film that avoids the visuals of human misery and perhaps the idea of suffering-the children that depend on him mysteriously don’t grieve much for their parents in the second act, -obviously the direction of the film is more about the story between this rosy cheeked bon vivant and the little ones.

The reason why the film works so effectively is that it enhances the emotion and keeps raising the stakes keeping the audience in a state of “Will they make it safely?”. Some audiences might cry foul to using kids in a WWII context, but Jugnot avoids the big tear-jerker mode of a Life is Beautiful preferably for the lighter drama with the addition of the sincere tender moments which add the sufficient amount of charisma to the overall feeling of the picture. Polished off in a picturesque décor, Monsieur Batignole is a feel good movie brimming with delightful characters and the very basic message that those who seem unlikely to be heroes are most often the ones who perform the most undaunting and sometimes life-saving tasks.

REVIEWED ON: AUGUST, 23 2002 MONTREAL WORLD FILM FESTIVAL

Rating 3 stars