ModdedCentipede
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Post by ModdedCentipede on Feb 14, 2021 5:32:00 GMT
This week, we're back to them gangsta stories!  Year: 2013 Chosen by: stratogustavStarring: Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dianna Agron Directed by: Luc Besson Written by: Michael Caleo, Tonino Benacquista, Luc Besson |
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Balder
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Post by Balder on Feb 14, 2021 15:28:45 GMT
Watched it as it's available on Netflix for me, not impressed:
"Luc Besson is weird one. He has made and written some interesting movies such as The Fifth Element, Leon: The Professional and the first Taken, but he is also responsible for the Taken sequels and The Transporter series. He is one of the filmmakers that pushed the style over substance movements in action movies, and it is for the most part not a great movement. The Family is perhaps apart of this movement as we a completely generic story about a gangster family moving to Normandy where their past catches up with them. There are some hijinks with De Niro being gangster with the local people, talking to another Tommy Lee Jones cop character and then there is a shootout scene at the end. Completely generic stuff that I doubt even fans of Besson would even know about. It is not bad per say, but it is far from good and it is completely forgettable in every sense of the word." 2/5
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stratogustav
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Post by stratogustav on Feb 16, 2021 14:39:47 GMT
So I watched this movie twice. The first time I watched it was years ago and had pretty much the same conclusion most people would initially have about being generic.
The second time I watched it was fairly recently, and I don't know if it was me who changed, but I came to appreciate it to a whole different level.
What I believe happened is that it resonated with me because in Latin America these kind of situations and outcomes are actually very common.
This takes place in France so I can't say I know how things worked over there in the past, but in Latin America this still happens.
Before, I was just looking at it from a first world perspective and from that perspective it all looks very exaggerated and hard to believe.
It is mostly a comedy of the sorts using fantastic scenarios that would not occur or go that far in real life.
However that's the actual opposite. The way they represent actual gangster situations is authentic in every single way, including the comedic elements of it.
The level of corruption in government is also real, and the way many problems as simple as clean water get overlooked is exactly as the movie describes.
Coincidences like the newspaper one are actually the common reason why many great ones fall. It is basically a love letter to real life gangster life including all the comedic situations that lifestyle produces.
They are comedic because they are unexpected, but they happen anyway, and that's a big part of the genius in this movie.
I don't know Luc Besson's background, but in all his movies he shows some very deep level of knowledge of gangster life, intelligence agencies field work, and institutional corruption, that it makes me think he has people inside because he always nails it, even if the scenario may be completely fictional.
What makes it unique is that he often shows the aspects that may look made up, but are actually common, and that's the beauty of his films, and particularly in the ones he actually directs.
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Balder
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Post by Balder on Feb 16, 2021 17:39:09 GMT
I don't know Luc Besson's background, but in all his movies he shows some very deep level of knowledge of gangster life, intelligence agencies field work, and institutional corruption, that it makes me think he has people inside because he always nails it, even if the scenario may be completely fictional. What makes it unique is that he often shows the aspects that may look made up, but are actually common, and that's the beauty of his films, and particularly in the ones he actually directs. I feel like Luc Besson is the exact opposite of what you say here. I'd guess it's arbitrary how his movies are constructed as he tends to gravitate towards things he thinks are cool or stylish, without giving much thought to any of it. Watch his The Transporter movies and it's clear how he has knowledge about stylish products such as expensive cars, clothes, watches etc. but all of them are just used to make the film appear stylish, but underneath all of it it's completely hollow as nothing matters besides the style. Hence, he is one of the big directors that pioneered the style over substance action subgenre. He's a French filmmaker who makes American action movies in France. There is hardly any reason to set any of his movies in France, but he likes the location, but he does not utilize it for any substance.
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stratogustav
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Post by stratogustav on Feb 16, 2021 23:23:52 GMT
I feel like Luc Besson is the exact opposite of what you say here. I'd guess it's arbitrary how his movies are constructed as he tends to gravitate towards things he thinks are cool or stylish, without giving much thought to any of it. Watch his The Transporter movies and it's clear how he has knowledge about stylish products such as expensive cars, clothes, watches etc. but all of them are just used to make the film appear stylish, but underneath all of it it's completely hollow as nothing matters besides the style. Hence, he is one of the big directors that pioneered the style over substance action subgenre. He's a French filmmaker who makes American action movies in France. There is hardly any reason to set any of his movies in France, but he likes the location, but he does not utilize it for any substance. Without knowingly I watched many of his movies in the past having a similar conclusion you have, it wasn't just with The Family. Now that I take a deeper look, that impression he gives that everything is made up is what I like most about his movies. The reason is that just like the examples I mentioned on The Family, pretty much all his movies have a level of exaggerated situations that normally you would think they don't happen. But once you see it you can't unseen it, specially with The Family, everything he points out there are all the crazy things you see in gangster life and politics in places like Latin America. That realization is what makes it cool because then you are laughing your ass off with the classic "you know he is right", and that's what makes it more crazy because it is. In other words it is like an inside joke with people that actually have become aware of these things because we know it is exactly accurate, but it doesn't appear that way. And like I said in there, it also applies to all those fake settings as well. For example in The Family I doubt all of that could take place in France, or maybe it could, I don't know, but I can definitely see it happening in Italy, Portugal, or Spain which have a more similar culture to Latin America in general. About Taken and The Transporter he did write a lot of it, but he didn't direct those, and maybe it is just me, but every single time he writes something and someone else directs they usually don't convey the realism behind it. The story could be completely based on something that actually happened, but I can bet those directors only see the fantasy side of it, and that's why they don't convey the ironic realism that he brings to his films. I just came out with that term, but if someone asks me how to describe Besson's work, and why he is so successful, I would say "ironic realism". It seems crazy, but that's what happens. I know because I have been in those places and I am aware of the kind of stories first hand. There is a joke in the gangster community that you also see in gangster films, and it is that sometimes you actually have to completely butcher and downplay the story just so it sounds believable because if you were to tell the stories as they actually happened, no one would believe them. Well, that joke is 100% accurate, and that's the beauty of these films. |
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