This film looks great! I really liked watching it in black & white. It's very dialog driven so reading the subtitles for most of the movie, I would like to see it again.
Definitely the best Luc Besson I have ever seen, beautiful black & white cinematography and set in a lovely Paris scenery. Slightly cliché story but with a great edge to it, almost like a dark sleazy part of Amelie mixed with clever dialogue.
Je t'aime Angel-A. The modern cinematic composition was beautiful - a vivid black & white foreign film set in France. Sweet story but without the sap and much coolness. I wanna be a sexy 6 foot bitch!
André is a total failure.
Or at least, so he thinks of himself. He owes money to every bad guy in Paris and is constantly running away from someone or something, but his life takes a U-turn when he meets Angela as he's about to jump off a bridge. The six-foot tall, chain smoking blond gradually changes André into something he didn't think he could be.
Wonderful story, beautiful and emotional. Luc Besson captured me again. Awesome acting.
Acclaimed writer/director Luc Besson (La Femme Nikita, Leon, and The Fifth Element) returns to live action filmmaking with Angel-A for the first time since 1999's misfire "The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc" with mixed results. Filmed in beautiful black and white photography, and very nice performances by the leads, it's never boring. In fact, it's almost impossible to take your eyes off of it, even when it gets a tiny bit silly.
At times it seems it was written and directed by an over-anxious sexually-frustrated 15-year-old boy with the sleaze and tease factor and the way some issues were resolved. However, along with the two leads, the real treat is Paris seen through wonderful camerawork. Still very much worth watching for Besson's talent and craft that shows in his recurring theme of a beautiful woman saving a man from himself. Besson says he will retire after directing 10 films...I, for one, hope not.
I >LOVE< this movie! Sort of a cross between "It's A Wonderful Life" and "Wings of Desire". Shot in BEAUTIFUL Black & White as an homage to 1940's "Film Noir". Make sure to pay attention throughout the whole movie because what seems to be happening is totally different than what actually happens. FUN!
honestly i wanted to watch this movie because it was after all luc besson, but i turned over my adoration to jamel debbouze... but anyways, the movie itself is quite alright, not the most impressive but it does has its charms and perks every now and then... a bit on the farfetched side, but then again it is luc besson
Luc Besson hadn't made a film in almost ten years, and then two came along in 2007: the lackluster kid film "Arthur and the Invisibles" and this gorgeous black-and-white entry in the "cinema du look" (ala' "Diva," and Besson's own "La Femme Nikita" and "Subway"). This film is a return to form - somewhat. The serio-comic neo-noir tale of a down on his luck grifter and his supermodel guardian angel (who saves him from suicide, among other things), Besson's film is above all great to look at, mixing in humor and violence with understated aplomb.
Angel-A is a dear, surprising film -- It's a strange feature with moods that aren't always immediately clear, but reward the patient with a little oddity and magic blended together for maximum delight.
Andrew (Jamel Debbouze) jumps off the same bridge twice in Angel-A, and the film is propelled, in large part, by what leads him not just once, but twice, to make the plunge. The first time he throws his legs over the rail and leans over to gaze at the water, it's an act of desperation -- the only course of action the tense, timid and terrified Andrew sees as a viable option. And over the course of a long, dark night, we see why that's the case: From street to street, and from London club to club, he's grabbed by the collar and told to pay up; informed that he has one more day to come up with the money he owes or there'll be trouble. One particularly nasty gangster holds Andrew upside down atop the Eiffel Tower. He'll pay, Andrew screams out, but he just can't think under these conditions; give him an extra day, and he'll figure out a way to come up with the cash. Moments later we see his grand idea: Walking into a police station and pleading with them to lock him up for a few days, until the whole thing blows over. When the officer behind the desk bursts into laughter, Andrew pulls up his collar, shuffles back into the streets and finds his way to the previously mentioned bridge, ready to cash it in. But in that moment of truth, he looks to his left and spots a woman about to jump -- a tall, beautiful blonde who seems inconsolable. Almost instantly, Andrew quickly becomes more concerned about her than his own misery, and when she jumps, he jumps to save her. Together they fall, and as both surface, she announces that she's going to devote her life to helping him out -- by helping him raise the cash to pay off his bookies and helping to boost his self esteem.
It isn't until much later, as she puffs cigarettes with Andrew in a diner, that she shares the truth with him: She's an angel, sent down from heaven to help him out since, deep down, he's a good and decent man. For the first time, the frowning and fretting Andrew bursts into chuckles. But those laughs turn to tears as this woman, who says her name is Angela (Rie Rasmussen) makes her ashtray levitate.
As is the case with so many movies involving angels, Angel-A is primarily concerned with matters of the soul, of Andrew trying to right the many wrongs he's committed and to set out to lead a better life. What's at once refreshing and disorienting about the way French director Luc Besson ("The Fifth Element") -- one of the most interesting international visionaries at work today -- handles the story is his attempt to de-romanticize one of the most idealistic and sublime formulas around.
Angela is not your everyday angel but, as played by the whimsical Rasmussen, is a snide, even sarcastic girlfriend of sorts, unafraid to beat up Andrew's enemies for him, all the while trying to teach him how to love himself first and foremost. She seems willing to do anything to help the guy, in one shocking sequence raising $50,000 by charging 50 men at a dance club $1,000 each for a sexual rendezvous in the bathroom.
Bathing the film in black-and-white, and by turning our attention to the all-out pathetic Andrew, who is a dumpy, physically disabled troublemaker; a loser in life who's starting to believe his own press. While on the other hand Angela is a towering blonde firecracker with a sexuality that melts glass. The duo makes for one hilariously uneven couple, but their acting couldn't be more finely matched and ready to engage. Besson seems at once to be paying homage to sweeter stories from cinema's past, while tearing up the old formula in favor of a new brand of fallen hero, a new type of angel and a whole new series of ups and downs that keep re-ordering the film's priorities.
Angel-A is a funny, stylish fantasy; a movie that never stops reinventing itself.
A beautiful black and white French film, directed by the great Luc Besson. It is a film about learning to love yourself and unlike are films it tries out some new areas, instead of staying on the same path. It does have a touch of Wings of Desire to it though, but this is a better film. And good god when your talking about legs, Rasmussen's got em from here all the way up to heaven. She makes Debbouze almost look like a midget at times.(B)
This movie brilliantly suprised me. It wasn't at all what I was expecting. It's French, so if you don't speak it, you'll have to make do with subtitles. But I promise you it will be worth the watch.
I didn't quite know what to expect going into this, but being a Besson film--I was looking forward to whatever it was going to be. I was pleasantly surprised, it reminded me of "It's A Wonderful Life." It had smart humor and a beautiful relationship between two strangers. I thouroughly enjoyed this B&W romance. I recommend it to anyone who likes unconventional love stories.
Foreign, French. Film is in B/W, but is a new film. This film is on the lines of 'It's a Wonderful Life', just set in modern day France. Made by the same director as 'The Fifth Element' and 'Leon, The Professional'. It's an excellent film! I highly recommend it!
Lovely. I was unsure whether black and white would really work for me, but it made the visuals more arresting not to be distracted by colour, especially in the case of Angela herself.
The movie has a great look which is what I expect from Luc Besson the director behind La Femme Nikita, Subway and Léon the Professional. Sadly Luc Besson's movies have ranged from ok (The 5th element) to horrible (The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc and Arthur and the Invisibles) in the last decade. This movie is better then those 2 because of it's beauty (Both the film it's self and Kate Nauta it's star.) but gets worse once you start to notice the bad acting and the bad screenplay.
A Luc Besson outing which made me watch, strangely peculiar with an odd moralistic tale to boot, a mild comedy that turned into a fantasy love story... with wings! Clever, nice and warm film where the underdog struggles to make it to the top! Only thing i did'nt quite get was the decision to film in Black and White? Still, good film and recommended.
Intriguing, mysterious, seductive, and the list continues. A heart-warming little film sprinkled with cues of Angela's mystical nature and a dash of light humour.
Despite critics I have read previously, I thought the black and white style of this film was aesthestically pleasing to the eye. And after a second thought, it couldn't have been in colour. Just couldn't have. I suspect Luc Besson of utilizing the colour settings as a mode of emphasizing the magic realism of the story - namely Angela, whose blonde mane and little black dress stood out.
Especially impressed with Jamel Debbouze who is usually specialized at making the public laugh. He showed us a more serious side of him, capable of doing some mature stuff.
Overall great film from Luc Besson that I encourage fans and non-fans alike to view multiple times so as to pick up on the subleties hidden all throughout.
My third Luc Besson movie, and I still can't get impressed. I found this interesting, with some nice moments and fun dialogue that made me wish I could understand without aid of the subtitles, but despite trying to pack a moral punch, I was mostly untouched. For a movie set in modern day Paris, the city feels oddly empty and futuristic, and the choice to film in black and white confuses. Does the beauty of Paris have anything to do with the story the way New York's does in Woody Allen's Manhattan? Too much doesn't hang together here, turning an inspired movie that could have been great into something less. Rie Rasmussen sure is leggy.
André é um jovem falhado e um mentiroso. De origem marroquina, vive em Paris e aí vive de pequenos esquemas. Deve dinheiro a quase todos os criminosos da cidade e está constantemente a ser ameaçado. Quando pela enésima vez lhe dão um prazo para pagar as suas dívidas e depois das últimas tentativas de ajuda se frustrarem, decide pôr termo à vida e mandar-se de uma ponte, lançando-se ao rio. Mas no derradeiro momento olha para o lado e vê que uma mulher que teve a mesma ideia. Instintivamente lança-se ao rio atrás dela para a salvar. Quando o consegue, molhado, extenuado e irritado apercebe-se de que acabou de salvar um portento de mulher: loura, 1 metro e 80 e medidas condizentes. Angela de seu nome, agradece-lhe o gesto e compromete-se a ser sua, a ajudá-lo naquilo que ele quiser. Mas o filme não irá por aí, não se preocupem? Rapidamente Angela começa a prostituir-se para arranjar o dinheiro que André precisa para pagar aos seus cobradores. Mas cedo este se interroga sobre o passado dela mulher e a verdadeira razão pela qual ela o ajuda tão vigorosamente? Nove anos se passaram desde a versão de `Jeanne D?arc´ de Luc Besson. Tempo esse que o cineasta francês passou a escrever e sobretudo a produzir muitos filmes de orçamento moderado e de apelo transeuropeu, com a sua produtora EuropaCorp. Agora traz-nos algo bem diferente do género tenso que o caracterizou, uma comédia romântica, bem disposta, sobre terapias comportamentais, missões (ev)angélicas, e sentimentos de culpa (mais ou menos levezinhos). Trata-se de uma obra que trabalha muito a relação das duas personagens principais, sempre envolvidas em situações caricatas, mas fá-lo sempre de forma um pouco infrutífera. Isto porque uma das principais pechas do filme são os abundantes diálogos. Estes deixam quase sempre a desejar, para além do que muitas vezes se verem armadilhados em ratoeiras narrativas que conduzem o espectador ao puro superficialismo. A tentativa de profundidade que Besson quer dar ao filme converte-se em certos momentos numa lição mais ou menos recauchetada e terapêutica de como enfrentar a vida, sem preocupações e sempre sendo honestos para com o espelho e com os outros à nossa volta. Outro ponto fraco é a direcção de actores que raramente acerta no tom da cena, transformando frequentemente cenas dramáticas, em ligeira diversão e viceversa, os pontos de diversão, em interacção dinâmica mas desajeitada. No par protagonista Jamel Debouzze, como André, tem um humor físico interessante enquanto herói chato e quezilento, que a modelo dinamarquesa Rie Rasmussen muito poucas vezes consegue acompanhar. Temos a nítida impressão que ela reage aos estímulos representativos do actor francês, a que a utilização da língua francesa não parece ajudar. Recorde-se que esta é apenas a segunda experiência no grande ecrã de Rie, depois de Brian de Palma a ter escolhido para Verónica em `Femme Fatale`(2002). A parecença física à ex-mulher de Besson, Milla Jovovich (embora com as devidas diferenças, entenda-se), não é um pormenor.
Agora um comentário, que quem não viu o filme se deve abster de ler. Nota de destaque para a bela Paris a preto e branco da fotografia de Thierry Arbogast, habitual colaborador do cineasta. Aquela a fazer lembrar a limpidez e pureza de tom de Berlim de Wenders em `Wings of Desire´ E a comparação não é inocente pois este ´Angel A` que conta afinal um amor impossível entre um homem quase condenado e o seu anjo da guarda, pretende situar-se algures na relação decadente e desencantada entre o humano e o divino da célebre obra de Wenders e o moralismo optimista de ´It?s a Wonderful Life` de Frank Capra. É pena que, na verdade, Besson, com um argumento da sua inteira responsabilidade, tenha ficado mais próximo do vazio romântico de `City of Angels`, a fraca actualização da obra de Wenders, assinada em 1998 por Brad Silberling. Apesar das fragilidades que o filme não tenta esconder desde o início e dos momentos em que a psicanálise pessoal vai longe demais, no final `Angel-A` consegue divertir-nos um pouco, e toca-nos, pela grande/pequena dimensão dos seus protagonistas. A provar que o sexo dos anjos é tudo menos uma questão equívoca.
MCT:November 9, 2008
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