This was the first movie in what was to become a very popular series featuring Eddie Constantine as a rough-hewn FBI agent. Consequently I'm a bit surprised to find so little user reviews here : the movie isn't particularly good (au contraire) but it is both well-known and representative of a certain brand of French movie-making typical for that era. For what's it worth, I would not be amazed to learn that the movies influenced at least part of the later James Bond franchise...
The plot - I'm being kind here - revolves around a ruthless gang of robbers and hijackers operating from North-Africa. The boss has a girlfriend, who was told a lie, to wit that her beloved brother was killed by the police. In reality, the man was killed by her own lover. An FBI agent flies to North-Africa in order to bring the gang to heel. Will he be able to convince the boss's girlfriend of the truth ? And will that turn her into a reliable ally ?
"La môme" tries to amuse and entertain. In order to do so it uses a lot of tropes from American noir, hardboiled and crime movies circa 1930, 1940. As a result the movie is awash in exotic scenery, wisecracks, fistfights, nightclub songs, and so on. Actress Dominique Wilms, who I believe is a Belgian, gives the audience a vamp to end all vamps : sporting a blonde Veronica Lake hairdo and mincing around in revealing dresses that are at least two sizes too small for her, she gives long, venomous, smoldering glances from beneath false eyelashes long enough to ensnare hummingbirds. It is not easy - at least for me - to know where the movie is "straight" and where it strays into deliberate hommage, pastiche or parody ; this is a question I gladly leave to professional critics.
Whatever its nature or intent, this is not a very good movie. It is littered with plot holes and WTF moments the size of Australia. The various fights are badly choreographed and the dialogue isn't half as witty as it thinks it is. Moreover, Eddie Constantine acts on a high-school amateur dramatics level, although he does have a certain relaxed charm. His ugly/handsome mug helps a lot here.
As I've said, Dominique Wilms is a sight to behold : watch her lift that manicured, lacquered and richly bejeweled paw in order to light a succession of cigarettes. (For some demented reason, the cigarettes are ten inches long.) The impact on the psychosexual development of a whole generation of adolescent males must have been considerable.
The plot - I'm being kind here - revolves around a ruthless gang of robbers and hijackers operating from North-Africa. The boss has a girlfriend, who was told a lie, to wit that her beloved brother was killed by the police. In reality, the man was killed by her own lover. An FBI agent flies to North-Africa in order to bring the gang to heel. Will he be able to convince the boss's girlfriend of the truth ? And will that turn her into a reliable ally ?
"La môme" tries to amuse and entertain. In order to do so it uses a lot of tropes from American noir, hardboiled and crime movies circa 1930, 1940. As a result the movie is awash in exotic scenery, wisecracks, fistfights, nightclub songs, and so on. Actress Dominique Wilms, who I believe is a Belgian, gives the audience a vamp to end all vamps : sporting a blonde Veronica Lake hairdo and mincing around in revealing dresses that are at least two sizes too small for her, she gives long, venomous, smoldering glances from beneath false eyelashes long enough to ensnare hummingbirds. It is not easy - at least for me - to know where the movie is "straight" and where it strays into deliberate hommage, pastiche or parody ; this is a question I gladly leave to professional critics.
Whatever its nature or intent, this is not a very good movie. It is littered with plot holes and WTF moments the size of Australia. The various fights are badly choreographed and the dialogue isn't half as witty as it thinks it is. Moreover, Eddie Constantine acts on a high-school amateur dramatics level, although he does have a certain relaxed charm. His ugly/handsome mug helps a lot here.
As I've said, Dominique Wilms is a sight to behold : watch her lift that manicured, lacquered and richly bejeweled paw in order to light a succession of cigarettes. (For some demented reason, the cigarettes are ten inches long.) The impact on the psychosexual development of a whole generation of adolescent males must have been considerable.