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Louise-Michel (2008)

Director: Gustave Kervern, Benoît Delépine

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From Time Out London

A film for anyone who has ever been given the boot, ‘Louise-Michel’ sees French sick puppies Gustave de Kervern and Benoît Delépine (‘Aaltra’) building a delightfully uncouth comedy around the closure of a small French toy factory. Named after a female French anarchist (who, in a closing quotation, demands we grind down the rich into ‘pig hash’), the film sees illiterate male-to-female transsexual Louise (the wonderful Yolande Moreau) convince her redundant workmates to pool their severance pay and employ a hitman to whack the miserly boss. Simple. Enter Michel (Bouli Lanners) , a dimwitted female-to-male transsexual with a vast collection of bespoke pistols, but no backbone: he takes down his targets by convincing terminal patients they should go out with a bang. The jocular, bad-taste comic set-pieces and wittily caricatured side-players mount up (soundtracked by Daniel Johnston, no less), but this tale of two genderless freaks fighting the good fight for the little man also offers a rousing reminder of the power (and eccentricities) of the pissed-off proletariat.

Author: David Jenkins

Time Out London Issue 2118: 24 - 30 March, 2011

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User reviews of this film

David Ross said...

Posted on Aug 19 2011 15:21 "...genderless freaks..."? I've not seen the film, but I can't see how it would justify this ugly phrase as a description of anyone, transsexual or otherwise.

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Paul Murphy said...

Posted on Apr 04 2011 15:17 Totally agree, the film is hysterical, a highlight of the 2009 LFF. Don't miss! Really deserves a wider screening than just the Lumiere.

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