After watching, and greatly enjoying, on 20 August 2023 the Luc Besson-directed sci fi movie The Fifth Element (which I have reviewed here), why not watch another Luc Besson-directed movie on the following night, I thought to myself – so I did. This time, on 21 August 2023, it was his French-language romantic fantasy film Angel-A, helpfully provided with English subtitles on my DVD of it.
Not only directed but also produced and written by Luc Besson, and released by EuropaCorp in 2005, Angel-A is set in Paris, and stars Jamel Debbouze as André, a small-time and small-in-stature but hugely-unsuccessful scam artist and general loser all round. Consequently, he now finds himself in serious hock to various big-time Parisian criminals, all of whom are demanding that he pay them back the considerable debts that he has accrued, and quickly, as in 24 hours' time, or he will be dealt with, permanently.
With absolutely no way of being able to do so, André decides to kill himself by jumping off a bridge into the Seine, only to be beaten to it by a very tall and also very beautiful young blonde woman (Rie Rasmussen). Forgetting his own woes, André jumps into the river after this mysterious maiden and rescues her, as a result of which she promises to stay by him and help him deal with all of his troubles.
She says that her name is Angela, and, true to her word, she does indeed stay – and solve André's problems too, albeit via some highly unconventional, and sometimes totally inexplicable, means.
However, inexplicable ultimately becomes explicable, when Angela finally confesses to André that she is actually an angel – i.e. not so much Angela as Angel-A – sent down from Heaven to sort out the mess that his life has become, and reveal to him the decent, kind-hearted, loving man that has become trapped deep inside him by all of his lies, machinations, and self-hatred.
Like I say, this is a romantic fantasy, so inevitably André falls in love with his divine rescuer whom he originally rescued. But how can a mortal and an angel hope to have any kind of lasting relationship, especially when as soon as her task to redeem André is accomplished, Angela's huge but hitherto-hidden swan-like wings materialise, ready to transport her back to Heaven? (Her winged flight, incidentally, is a truly beautiful, quite literally uplifting sight to behold.)
Perhaps it's time for the angel who has taught André the meaning and reality of love to follow her own teachings?
Worth noting, incidentally – though the chances are that you won't, unless you specifically take note after having read this here: at the age of only 14, Debbouze was struck by a passing train travelling at 150 km/hr, the force of the impact causing him to lose the use of his right arm permanently. Yet you would never realise this while watching Angel-A, thanks to some deft camera work and the ostensibly casual way in which Debbouze always keeps his disabled right hand tucked inside his right-side trouser pocket. Moreover, this subtle but significant action has become his trademark throughout his movie and TV serial appearances.
Also worth noting is that Angel-A is Besson's tenth movie, and he had long claimed that he would only make ten. Happily, however, he did not keep to this, and has gone on to make several more.
I should point out that this movie includes a few fairly raunchy scenes and dialogue, hence the 15 rating for my DVD. Nevertheless, shot very atmospherically in b/w (its exquisite cinematography is by Thierry Arbogast), with wonderful background music (by Norwegian singer-songwriter Anja Gabarek), and delightful, but also often extremely potent, emotional turns from both of its leading performers, Angel-A thoroughly entranced me throughout, one of the most moving, funny, and truly captivating films that I've seen in a long time. In short, I absolutely loved every second of its relatively brief 88-minute running time, and I recommend it unreservedly!
So if you'd like to wing your way through an official trailer for Angel-A, be sure to click here to watch one on YouTube.
Finally: to view a complete chronological listing of all of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film reviews and articles (each one instantly accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE, and please click HERE to view a complete fully-clickable alphabetical listing of them.
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