STARS: Daniel Auteuil, Vanessa Paradis.

STORY:

Ever wondered how circus knife-throwers recruit their beautiful but fearless assistants? Watching this little film might be the closest you’ll ever get to an answer. Some beautiful scenes, a touch of mental telepathy and the moody quality of a film shot in black and white lift the story above the average. The film’s style might be a tad self-conscious, but it still pulls through. I rolled my eyes at the scene where Adele (Paradis) discovers the erotic possibilities of HAVING knives thrown at her, but the scene looked so good I couldn’t hold a grudge! Come to think of it, the `wheel of death’ she gets strapped to is another potential bondage fantasy in the making, but I wouldn’t want to get too carried away. The costume Paradis wears for this scene is great, incidentally. Gotta love those circus scenes as well. I’m realising as I write this that there’s more to like than dislike.

It is essentially about a romance that develops between two `unlucky’ misfits with nothing to lose, or so they think. Luck and confidence walk hand in hand. Their travels take them to Monaco, Italy, Greece and Turkey, but the real journey is an interior one. Auteuil won best actor at the 2000 French Oscars for his portrayal of Gabor, the lonely knife-thrower.

Aspect is 16:9 widescreen, sound is DD 5.1, which is always the best way to watch a film. There’s a great soundtrack to this so it’s shown off well with surround sound. A mournful-sounding Marianne Faithfull song keeps cropping up throughout, which I really liked.

EXTRAS

Only the basics here, which is fine. A chapter selection and theatrical trailer are also included.

OVERALL

I liked this DVD. It’s another example of `something different’ from The AV Channel/Madman Films. Shot in black and white, this simple love story is surprisingly affecting, stopping well short of a tearjerker.