This latest piece of Whimsy from Jean-Pierre Jeunet sees a young man who loses everything thanks to the products of arms dealers set about bringing retribution to them with the aid of a troupe of scavenging scrapyard misfits he falls in with.
This an oddity of a film. The serious nature of the corrupt arms trade is in stark contrast to the flight of fancy that it follows.
The scavengers live in a scapyard in a home constructed of scrap. Each has their own idiosyncrasy to bring to events, essentially becoming a circus band.
The arguments of the arms trade are shown to be rediculous by ridicule. The heads of the companies self absorbed childish brats with dangerous toys.
Thus ensues a farce where the arms dealers are brought to loggerheads by the many-talented scrap merchants in a series of light hearted stunts.
The group have something of Gilliam's time bandits about them, as does their scrap home. The tone is distinctly Jeunet, in concentrated form. Where Amelie took a largely real world with some light hearted observations gently twisted with whimsy, here is a fantastic world with an occasional twist of reality. You don't so much suspend your disbelief for the train of fantastic events as occasionally engage belief for the films heart to develop.
Stylised, funny and largely nonsensical, lovers of silliness will enjoy it where others will hate it. I for one, was very amused.
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