Stagnating in debt, without a Euro to his name, small-time low-life André decides that the best thing for all concerned would be to throw himself into the Seine. However, just as he is about to end it all on the Pont Alexandre III, he is interrupted by a beautiful blonde, who, without word or question, leaps into the river before him. Without even questioning the irony, André jumps into the water to save her, and, after pulling her to safety, is shocked when the woman dutifully offers to help him out of his current predicament. Angela, of course, is no ordinary suicidal beauty; though it takes time for the sceptical André to realise that she has latched onto him for a very specific reason. The twist is that she needs him just as much as he needs her, if only to feel the emotional connections that divinity has denied her.
Angel-A (2005) takes director Luc Besson back to his roots to some extent; giving us a slight, though no less charming little tale of love and loneliness that forgoes the kind of balletic, exotic action and violence that came to pepper his more iconic work throughout the 1990's, and instead, looks back to the quirky, stylish, character driven films that he produced in the early to mid 1980's. As a result, Angel-A seems indebted to the long since forgotten "cinema du look" movement; a brief cinematic resurgence in 1980's French cinema that saw a younger generation of filmmakers looking back to the days of Godard, Truffaut and the Nouvelle Vague, to create pop-culture referencing films dealing with doomed love and alienated Parisian youth. Although the film is very much evocative of that brief era in French cinema in which Besson came to prominence alongside filmmakers such as Jean Jacques Beineix and Leos Carax, Angel-A isn't a complete retread of his earlier work. In fact, the most notable thing about this film is the way in which Besson channels the spirit of his younger self - creating a film that is high in energy and expressive in both style and imagination - but also manages to bring to it the same sense of emotional maturity and character detail found in his much better films of the 90's; chiefly Nikita (1990) and Léon (1994).
Whereas his 80's films were content to fall back on clever visual gags, iconic characters and arch dialog, Angel-A takes these characteristics and applies them to a relationship that is as mysterious, provocative and believable as the one between Léon and Matilda, or even that of Corbin Dallas and Leeloo from his great pop-art science-fiction thriller, The Fifth Element (1997). It also gives us characters that we can care about and believe in; something that seems a million miles away from the puppet-like warriors of his first film, the wordless science-fiction parable The Last Battle (1983), or the ironic caricatures of the director's second feature, the chic and iconic crime thriller Subway (1985). Many have likened Angel-A to the classic Frank Capra film It's a Wonderful Life (1946), with the notion of a down on their luck character being brought back from the brink by a mysterious, angelic-like figure. This is true to some extent, but the difference is in the details and the overall message that the film presents. In It's a Wonderful Life, the central character played by James Stewart is shown how much poorer the world would be to his friends and family if he had never been born. In Angel-A however, the character of André is shown how great the world can be, if only he had the strength and the drive to take advantage of any situation, no matter how seemingly hopeless.
Some will obviously balk at the brazen romanticism on display here; particularly towards the end of the film in which André and Angela realise - without giving too much away - that they each fulfil some greater sense of purpose to one another; with Besson once again bringing things to a close on the Pont Alexandre III to create an interesting, circular aspect to the narrative, rife for reinterpretation. The relationship between André and Angela is a very beautiful one, playing off the obvious differences in their appearance and the slow reversal of roles that takes place over the course of the film's duration. It also works as a result of the pitch-perfect casting of comedian Jamel Debbouze as the luckless André and supermodel Rie Rasmussen as the protective Angela, and the subtlety and compassion that both of these performers bring to their respective characters. With this in mind, Angel-A, for me at least, is as beautiful as cinema gets; perfectly tapping into the spirit of the "cinema du look" approach with the glossy photography, sharp-pacing and imaginative use of production design, but with an interesting story and characters that manage to elicit real and captivating emotions.
The continual interplay between the two characters and the presentation of their plight is beautifully done, featuring some of Besson's best writing and dialog; with at least two scenes (in particular, the "mirror scene" and the penultimate scene back on the bridge) almost bringing me to tears. It is unconventional, shamelessly romantic and prone to the kind of unashamed flights of fantasy that really require an enormous amount of suspension of disbelief... but it is worth it. Angela-A is a beautiful film, not only in the way in which it is presented, but in the relationship of its central characters and the deeper, philosophical interpretations of the plot. Quite clearly a hard sell for many, perhaps more cynical viewers, but for me, this is a genuinely imaginative and inventive film that moved and delighted me on a profoundly personal level.
Angel-A (2005) takes director Luc Besson back to his roots to some extent; giving us a slight, though no less charming little tale of love and loneliness that forgoes the kind of balletic, exotic action and violence that came to pepper his more iconic work throughout the 1990's, and instead, looks back to the quirky, stylish, character driven films that he produced in the early to mid 1980's. As a result, Angel-A seems indebted to the long since forgotten "cinema du look" movement; a brief cinematic resurgence in 1980's French cinema that saw a younger generation of filmmakers looking back to the days of Godard, Truffaut and the Nouvelle Vague, to create pop-culture referencing films dealing with doomed love and alienated Parisian youth. Although the film is very much evocative of that brief era in French cinema in which Besson came to prominence alongside filmmakers such as Jean Jacques Beineix and Leos Carax, Angel-A isn't a complete retread of his earlier work. In fact, the most notable thing about this film is the way in which Besson channels the spirit of his younger self - creating a film that is high in energy and expressive in both style and imagination - but also manages to bring to it the same sense of emotional maturity and character detail found in his much better films of the 90's; chiefly Nikita (1990) and Léon (1994).
Whereas his 80's films were content to fall back on clever visual gags, iconic characters and arch dialog, Angel-A takes these characteristics and applies them to a relationship that is as mysterious, provocative and believable as the one between Léon and Matilda, or even that of Corbin Dallas and Leeloo from his great pop-art science-fiction thriller, The Fifth Element (1997). It also gives us characters that we can care about and believe in; something that seems a million miles away from the puppet-like warriors of his first film, the wordless science-fiction parable The Last Battle (1983), or the ironic caricatures of the director's second feature, the chic and iconic crime thriller Subway (1985). Many have likened Angel-A to the classic Frank Capra film It's a Wonderful Life (1946), with the notion of a down on their luck character being brought back from the brink by a mysterious, angelic-like figure. This is true to some extent, but the difference is in the details and the overall message that the film presents. In It's a Wonderful Life, the central character played by James Stewart is shown how much poorer the world would be to his friends and family if he had never been born. In Angel-A however, the character of André is shown how great the world can be, if only he had the strength and the drive to take advantage of any situation, no matter how seemingly hopeless.
Some will obviously balk at the brazen romanticism on display here; particularly towards the end of the film in which André and Angela realise - without giving too much away - that they each fulfil some greater sense of purpose to one another; with Besson once again bringing things to a close on the Pont Alexandre III to create an interesting, circular aspect to the narrative, rife for reinterpretation. The relationship between André and Angela is a very beautiful one, playing off the obvious differences in their appearance and the slow reversal of roles that takes place over the course of the film's duration. It also works as a result of the pitch-perfect casting of comedian Jamel Debbouze as the luckless André and supermodel Rie Rasmussen as the protective Angela, and the subtlety and compassion that both of these performers bring to their respective characters. With this in mind, Angel-A, for me at least, is as beautiful as cinema gets; perfectly tapping into the spirit of the "cinema du look" approach with the glossy photography, sharp-pacing and imaginative use of production design, but with an interesting story and characters that manage to elicit real and captivating emotions.
The continual interplay between the two characters and the presentation of their plight is beautifully done, featuring some of Besson's best writing and dialog; with at least two scenes (in particular, the "mirror scene" and the penultimate scene back on the bridge) almost bringing me to tears. It is unconventional, shamelessly romantic and prone to the kind of unashamed flights of fantasy that really require an enormous amount of suspension of disbelief... but it is worth it. Angela-A is a beautiful film, not only in the way in which it is presented, but in the relationship of its central characters and the deeper, philosophical interpretations of the plot. Quite clearly a hard sell for many, perhaps more cynical viewers, but for me, this is a genuinely imaginative and inventive film that moved and delighted me on a profoundly personal level.