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Jun 16, 2008
« Les anges de l’apocalypse » : one, two... three ? (3/3)
« Les anges de l’apocalypse » first five minutes are entertaining : night, storm and mayhem in a mysterious abbey. This early promise of a good yarn of pleasantly silly filmmaking is quickly and badly broken.
The opening sequence showcases Olivier Dahan’s visual style, the remainder of the film suggests he is no long distance filmmaker : a graduate of video clips, he quickly tires and runs short of original ideas. While the script goes berserk, his direction stutters.
The film first five minutes are good, because much work has been put into them : the whole sequence was no doubt story-boarded and planned to the last detail.
The film remaining ninety four minutes are dead boring, due to a parallel lack of work. The laziness of Besson’s script writing contaminates Olivier Dahan’s direction : stews can be good, if properly cooked.
The film script and direction suffer from a similar lack of attention to details : Luc Besson is not one to embarrass himself with them, how could Olivier Dahan not emulate his screenwriter, co-producer and possible role model, whose success speaks so eloquently for the excellence of his work ethics ?
Film direction turns progressively lax and gives up on the movie, perhaps because it has given up on the script.
Olivier Raoux is credited for the film « conception visuelle ». So-called « visual conception » boils down to a few unsubtle « leitmotivs » : the promised apocalypse announces itself by recurring shots of a full moon emerging out of a cloudy night sky, many rain showers, a wide collection of usually bloody crucifixes, burning candles and fires, dominant red and black colours and painfully overexposed shots of blinding white light.
Last but not least, ubiquitous faceless hoods sum up Besson’s and Dahan’s, and possibly their viewers’, interest in, and understanding of, Christian religion. Monks are fashion models and forefathers of today street gangs : like them, they belong to close-knit communities, take vows and hide their face.
Alain Goldman wanted to turn Jean-Christophe Grangé’s novel into a film trilogy. Mathieu Kassovitz’s « Les rivières pourpres » came out in 2000. « Les anges de l’apocalypse » is a 2003 release. We are in 2008 and have so far been spared opus three.
Are we safe or is the threat of a third film still hanging over our heads like Damoclès’s sword ? What if Luc Besson’s inspiration strikes again ?
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