Les Acteurs (1999)
Director: Bertrand Blier
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Blier has mellowed in middle age. A heartless wheelchair gag is about as enfant terrible as he gets, and even that is presumably meant as homage to Los Olvidados. Indeed, and yet again, Buñuel is the key reference in this lightly linked series of absurdist sketches after the manner of Le Charme Discret. Arditi, Balasko, Belmondo, et al, play actors named Arditi, Balasko, Belmondo... enabling Blier to engage in a mostly playful game of tag with movie reality and reality reality. The tone shifts between poker-faced teasing (Depardieu as a drunken motorcyclist, Brialy defending himself when called 'an old queer') and equally poker-faced deference (Claude Brasseur then Blier himself getting a phone call from 'Papa'). Mildly unsettling, mildly provoking - the Blier agenda, after all - and slightly tiresome.Author: BBa
Cast & crew
Director: Bertrand Blier
Producer: Alain Sarde
Cast: Pierre Arditi, Josiane Balasko, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Dominique Blanc, Claude Brasseur, Jean-Claude Brialy, Alain Delon, Gérard Depardieu, André Dussollier, Sami Frey, Michael Lonsdale, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Michel Piccoli, Claude Rich, Maria Schneider, Michel Serrault, Jacques Villeret, Jean Yanne, Bertrand Blier full cast
Duration: 100 mins
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