Well, I went to see that in order to empty my stressed mind and to
forget my personal problems. So I was not expecting a good
movie. Knowing 3 movies by Jan Kounen (Dobermann, Gisele
Kerozene and Vibroboy), I was also expecting a rather violent and
almost inhuman action movie. But to my surprise: NO! It was exactly the contrary: a kind of hypnotic western movie, far
from what we've seen before in that cinema genre. Of course it's
not a masterpiece and it has some clichés and "bad" scenes. But
the style is quite original and it's more an insight of Blueberry's
mind than a Blueberry's adventure. This movie is far from the
comic book's character (I have to admit that I don't really know the
comic book so it's probably why I was not that upset by the
difference!) but in one way it's not a big deal! It's announced in the
opening credits: "freely inspired by"! Therefore, I think that's just a
re-invention of the myth of Blueberry as "O Brother" is a
re-invention of Ulysses by the Coen Brothers or "Romeo + Juliet"
a re-invention of Shakespeare's work by Baz Lurhman. Adaptation shouldn't be a copy, in fact. And that's why lots of
people always say: "oh my God, if you know the book, the cinema
adaptation is totally failed!" Because they (we) are often afraid of
re-invention. To come back to the movie "Blueberry", I have to say that I was
completely hypnotized by the animated almost abstract part of it. At
the end, the long insight of Blueberry reminded me of "2001 a
space odyssey". Of course "Blueberry" will not be remembered as
"2001" is and will still be, but it looks like a kind of tribute to
Kubrick's movie. "Blueberry" seems to be a very personal movie for Kounen and I
suppose that's the reason why it's misunderstood and underestimated. People were probably waiting for a more
conventional western movie. And I think this one is kind of
in-between: both a commercial movie and a more experimental
author's film. So have a try, and just fly in Blueberry's mind... and don't expect too
many action scenes! 7/10
forget my personal problems. So I was not expecting a good
movie. Knowing 3 movies by Jan Kounen (Dobermann, Gisele
Kerozene and Vibroboy), I was also expecting a rather violent and
almost inhuman action movie. But to my surprise: NO! It was exactly the contrary: a kind of hypnotic western movie, far
from what we've seen before in that cinema genre. Of course it's
not a masterpiece and it has some clichés and "bad" scenes. But
the style is quite original and it's more an insight of Blueberry's
mind than a Blueberry's adventure. This movie is far from the
comic book's character (I have to admit that I don't really know the
comic book so it's probably why I was not that upset by the
difference!) but in one way it's not a big deal! It's announced in the
opening credits: "freely inspired by"! Therefore, I think that's just a
re-invention of the myth of Blueberry as "O Brother" is a
re-invention of Ulysses by the Coen Brothers or "Romeo + Juliet"
a re-invention of Shakespeare's work by Baz Lurhman. Adaptation shouldn't be a copy, in fact. And that's why lots of
people always say: "oh my God, if you know the book, the cinema
adaptation is totally failed!" Because they (we) are often afraid of
re-invention. To come back to the movie "Blueberry", I have to say that I was
completely hypnotized by the animated almost abstract part of it. At
the end, the long insight of Blueberry reminded me of "2001 a
space odyssey". Of course "Blueberry" will not be remembered as
"2001" is and will still be, but it looks like a kind of tribute to
Kubrick's movie. "Blueberry" seems to be a very personal movie for Kounen and I
suppose that's the reason why it's misunderstood and underestimated. People were probably waiting for a more
conventional western movie. And I think this one is kind of
in-between: both a commercial movie and a more experimental
author's film. So have a try, and just fly in Blueberry's mind... and don't expect too
many action scenes! 7/10