That Pierre Richard is a comedic genius is beyond question, yet this laborious effort at light-hearted farce -- directed, co-written and starring PR, everybody's favorite Tall Blond Man -- is a misfire from start to finish. Strained physical comedy, double-take visual jokes that lack a point, one-dimensional supporting characters given little to do and the absence of any particular plot render this series of anecdotes an hour and a half you'll regret losing.
PR himself is always amusing, and he has several moments here that will make you smile broadly. But the other 95% of his screen time is either mugging for mugging's sake, which gets old fast, or simply shtick -- which he sets up and performs far better in any other movie of his from the '70s-80s.
Strictly for completists and the very easily entertained.
Reviews
2 Reviews
Demons
(2014)
Demons (aka The Possessed) Russia, 2014
12 October 2020
Based on a novel by a world-famous writer Feodor Dostoevsky. It is a little awkward, sure, but nobody's going to argue w/ it which is worth noting because any review you'll find that surpasses this 10-word job has or will provoke controversy, raised voices (or pens) and somebody scandalously threatening somebody else. Kind of like the novel, actually. Make that very like.
"Demons" ("The Possessed") was FMD's most overtly political work, and it raised plenty of controversy in its day -- much of it for a depiction of Russia's radical youth of the 1870s that was itself radical: justly unflattering to some readers, simply slanderous to others, everybody had an opinion and everybody was right, dammit.
That said, it was also a novel of luminous characters, engaging philosophizing and memorable scandal scenes topping anything else in the canon of this scandal-loving world-famous writer. Given this very mixed bag of ingredients, what kind of movie could dir. Vl. Khotinenko (or anybody) make of "Demons"? Let's let 3 voices give you some perspectives to chose from.
(1) Khotinenko has made a completely sincere movie which maintains that the enemies of law and order are aesthetes, students and intellectuals. (2) In principle, in the framework set by the (4-part) serial format, Khotinenko has succeeded at the most important thing preserving the encyclopedic character of the novel's narrative. (3) This is a quality film about us.
"Demons" ("The Possessed") was FMD's most overtly political work, and it raised plenty of controversy in its day -- much of it for a depiction of Russia's radical youth of the 1870s that was itself radical: justly unflattering to some readers, simply slanderous to others, everybody had an opinion and everybody was right, dammit.
That said, it was also a novel of luminous characters, engaging philosophizing and memorable scandal scenes topping anything else in the canon of this scandal-loving world-famous writer. Given this very mixed bag of ingredients, what kind of movie could dir. Vl. Khotinenko (or anybody) make of "Demons"? Let's let 3 voices give you some perspectives to chose from.
(1) Khotinenko has made a completely sincere movie which maintains that the enemies of law and order are aesthetes, students and intellectuals. (2) In principle, in the framework set by the (4-part) serial format, Khotinenko has succeeded at the most important thing preserving the encyclopedic character of the novel's narrative. (3) This is a quality film about us.
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