Review of OSS 117: From Africa with Love

What makes a good comedy? "Alerte rouge en Afrique noire" ("From Africa with Love") enables to partly answer the question since its upsides and downsides are very contrasting. To be clear, I liked the previous films of the franchise directed by Michel Hazanavicius, namely OSS 117: Le Caire, nid d'espions (2006) and OSS 117: Rio ne répond plus (2009) which was the best with hilarious scenes such as the crocodile roasting and visual feasts like the sequence in the Christ Redeemer statue at the end. And to avoid any ambiguity, I have nothing against director Nicolas Bedos who is a controversial figure in France.

"WITH LOVE": THE QUALITIES

• Acting is again spotless including for secondary roles and of course by Jean Dujardin. Granted, Pierre Niney was sometimes criticised for his performance, however could he have better played a relatively shallow character?-
• Humour is on the heavy side as in previous films, yet is still efficient with its variety of caricatures, second degree tone and witty dialogues. Some scenes are hilarious for instance when OSS117 fantasises about French clichés while making love with Zéphyrine. Period clothing and devices are risible, for instance the "portable computer" weighting 10 kg and the "mobile phone" the size of a briefcase. So overall it's a fun watch even though there are numerous references to French culture and dated phrases which a foreign audience would miss.-
• James Bond parodic elements are clever, notably the opening credits with the song, naked women used as screens, the agent, the car, cocktails, etc., all in a dorky French mode. There is a pre-credit prologue and naturally it is over the top. Bond's complicity with Moneypenny is transposed into a model of indelicacy. The secret services' vault, instead of Q's deadly gadgets, only hosts computers and nerds. In the bar, OSS117 does not order a cocktail as OSS1001 but a basic drink. OSS117's supposedly "illimited material" turns out to be an old-fashioned pimp car with cigarettes and alcohol instead of useful devices.-
• There is some depth, notably criticism about post-colonialism named "Françafrique" ("Frenchafrica"): how France interferes with African politics, security and economy. The scene where OSS117 and Lesignac laugh about African countries pseudo independence is funny and revealing. The French arch-villain's name, Lépervier, is a reference to the lengthy Epervier Operation (1986-2014) supporting despots in Chad. African regimes are not spared either: dictatorial, corrupt, incompetent. Most of all these critics are still valid nowadays.-
• There are references to French politics notably the red scare when Mitterrand was about to be elected in 1981 and then-President Giscard d'Estaing's passions for hunting and diamonds... As a reminder, Bedos is left-wing and his renowned father who passed away last year was very critical about Giscard d'Estaing at the time.-
• Through the main character, the movie again targets prejudice, racism, sexism, homophobia, as well as "beaufs" (rednecks) proud about themselves, their jokes, car, clothing, etc. It includes feminist undertones when OSS117 is confronted to independent and smart women; actually most male characters, including OSS1001, are somewhat ridiculous whilst female characters have class. On the other hand, the movie also targets liberals: the racist OSS117 tries to behave for once, however only manages to be patronising. Hence there is an overarching sarcasm about a politically correct mindset trying to be friendly with people of colour but only aggravating the situation.

"ALERTE ROUGE": THE FLAWS

• Pacing is not as sustained as in previous films: some sequences are long, notably the whole operation in the savanna. The fact most of the action occurs in a single country does not help (the prologue in Afghanistan could be anywhere and we practically see nothing of France). It is difficult to maintain humour for 2 hours and indeed, the two previous features were 20 minutes shorter.-
• The fact it is a comedy should not prevent consistency. The Soviet mercenary opens a box full of grenades for his enemy. OSS117 is immediately attacked just because someone shouts "Thief! Racist!" on the street (there are dangerous places in Africa however this doesn't look like one of them). OSS1001 expects Lépervier to provide him information after assaulting all his men. Zéphyrine frees OSS117 who has always been a threat, just on a hunch. Then sleeps with him, then imprisons him again just because he is stupid (jails would be overloaded if we generalised that rule).-
• OSS117's gaffes about Africa and people of colour are repetitive. He blunders with the hotel porter, then with the president. He patronises the young child about football. He blunders again with Zéphyrine in the village then voices the most ridiculous speech of World History next to her in bed.-
• This recurrent trick not only becomes slightly tedious: it raises an ethical question about the movie. The latter criticises condescending attitudes as we have seen, yet paradoxically exhibits a façade of Africa to offset the façade of OSS117. First it identifies the continent as a single entity as shown by the title with "Africa" and the fact the country is unknown (for info, it was actually shot in Kenya). Then we don't see different cultures, religions, tribes (only quick references to Zéphyrine's tribe): we mostly see stereotypes. Hence OSS117's map only showing countries outlines becomes a metaphor about the movie: a distant French or even European view about the region. It is more ambitious than a standard comedy by including ethical insight as noted above (post-colonialism, politics, racism, etc.), yet mostly remains disconnected from the people involved... a bit as OSS117 himself is.

In summary, even if "Alerte rouge en Afrique noire" is watchable, it is to date the weakest of the franchise. It manages to entertain and perpetuate its peculiar style, somewhere between Johnny English and James Bond with a "beauf" twist, but unfortunately falls short on different levels.