FRANCOIS OZON
Bil’s rating (out of 5): BB.5. France/Italy, 2009. Eurowide Film Production, FOZ, Teodora Film, BUF, France 2 Cinema, Coficup 3, Backup Media, Uni Étoile 5, CineCinema, Canal+, Le Pacte. Screenplay by Francois Ozon. Cinematography by Jeanne Lapoirie. Produced by Chris Bolzli, Claudie Ossard, Vieri Razzini. Music by Philippe Rombi. Production Design by Katia Wyszkop. Costume Design by Pascaline Chavanne. Film Editing by Muriel Breton.
A factory employee falls in love with a co-worker and they quickly move in together, under the watchful gaze of her little girl who observes the interruption of her private world with her mother without comment. The woman quickly becomes pregnant, and the baby she has, adorably named Ricky, turns out to be somewhat special. At first his mother thinks that the red marks on his back are bruises as the result of being abused by his father, who leaves home thanks to this unfortunate accusation, but eventually something miraculous occurs: the bruises sprout little appendages that grow into giant, feathered wings that the boy can use to fly. He inspires a media sensation when she accidentally lets him loose while grocery shopping and the world gets a glimpse of this wondrous child. Director Francois Ozon gets fancy free with this soufflé of a film, but it is hard to know where he means to go with it: there are no conclusions made about the situation, there are no dramatic possibilities explored nor is there some kind of political or social allegory hinted at by the story. That and a strange opening scene that is uncomfortably tied with the rest of the film (at least when viewed only once) make for an amusing but thoroughly dissatisfying experience that is buoyed somewhat by the good performances.
