European Films

A reluctant hero if ever there was one, Jacquou le Croquant is brought to thrilling life in the epic Laurent Boutonnat adaptation of the popular Eugène le Roy novel. As the title character, French heartthrob Gaspard Ulliel more than holds his own opposite screen veterans Olivier Gourmet, Tchéky Karyo and Albert Dupontel in this lush period drama set in the Périgord region in the French Dordogne but mainly filmed in Romania. The film’s atypical treatment of its hero is one of the its strong points, but might make for a tough sell abroad, where the novel and the 1969 French TV series are less well-known. Though not an unmitigated triumph, Boutonnat, Ulliel and Léo Legrand (who plays Jacquou as a child) deliver a rousing spectacle that deserves to be seen on the big screen.

 

French composer Laurent Boutonnat (most famous for his work with diva Mylène Farmer, who sings the song over the end-credits but does not appear as an actress) returns to his first love filmmaking for only the third feature-length outing since his 1980 Cannes debut. In his version of Jacquou le Croquant, written by the director and Franck Moisnard, about equal time is given to Jacquou’s childhood trauma and subsequent anger that he channels into a peasant uprising against the evil Count Nansac (played with devilish glee by Jocelyn Quivrin).

 

Legrand’s Jacquou is a nimble 9-year-old boy living with his parents, who are two of many poor farm workers exploited by the Count. Jacquou’s father (Albert Dupontel) and mother (Marie-Josée Croze) are a loving couple, though soon, with Nansac’s help, tragedy strikes the family and Jacquou becomes an orphan. He is finally taken in by a country priest (Olivier Gourmet) and grows up in the priest’s household, which is frequented by a noble local chevalier (Tchéky Karyo). In this first section, Legrand shows us not only an amazing range for an actor of his age, but especially a kind the screen presence that will guarantee that all eyes are glued to the screen whenever he appears. This quality comes in handy when the director makes a few ugly missteps, including a wildly over-the-top scene in which Jacquou wanders around like a zombie covered in red dust.

 

The second part focuses on Jacquou as a 20-year-old (and now played by Ulliel) and has the film’s two most breathtaking sequences: one an elaborate set piece involving a danced stand-off with the Count and the other an intimate scene involving a naked Jacquou, an equally naked La galiotte (Bojana Panic), the Count’s daughter, and a sheet of bed linen that separates them. Both are choreographed in such detail and are filmed and edited with such precision that it is clear that a master visual storyteller is at work here, though it also has the effect of making the other scenes look more banal in comparison, including the final confrontation between Jacquou and the Count, which lacks the force, originality and sheer daring displayed in the aforementioned scenes. 

Boutonnat must be complemented for doing what the story needs rather than what the audience might expect: Jacquou and La galiotte can never be together because Jacquou is together with Lina (Judith Davis) and Boutonnat wisely underlines the eroticism and attraction between the two opposites without compromising Jacquou’s faithfulness to Lina.

 

Similarly, he allows the film to dwell on Gourmet’s curé Bonal to underline the story’s setting in troubled times, where allegiances switched as national and regional leaders came and went and even a priest was not certain whose orders to follow. Because this has been made clear through character (rather than say, title cards), the uprising reluctantly led by Jacquou in the film’s final reels becomes more plausible, since regime changes seem to happen every day. When push comes to shove, however, Jacquou still seems unwilling to hurt anyone, even the Count who did his family so much wrong. It is an interesting take on the character, though it could have used a bit more work, especially on the way in which the other disgruntled farmers are key in getting Jacquou to accept his role as their leader. In Boutonnat’s film, the only thing they seem to have to do is chant “Jacquou! Jacquou!” like a group of modern football supporters, which seems hardly a good enough reason to finally lead them into rebellion.

 

The film’s technical package is impressive, starting with Olivier Cocaul’s cinematography, though some dark interior scenes are one the grainy side. The film also boasts several scenes of impressive special effects and Christian Marti’s production design is outstanding. Actors are all in top form, right down to the supporting roles: Gourmet’s always tipsy but sincere priest, Quivrin’s Nansac who seems more in love with himself than anyone else and Dupontel and Croze as his loving parents. Boutonnat's own score is appropriately rousing.

 

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