I worked on this film as an extra and it was a pleasure to meet the fantastic talent in the film. Isaach was a delight and it was great to meet the late, great Jean-Claude Brialy, who had us often in stitches during the breaks. But the sheer brilliance of watching Ms. Denis at work was unforgettable. I would also like to point out that the cockfights in the film look very real but in filming them it was executed so well that no harm was ever done to any animals. It took many, many hours of shooting and many takes to make it look real - and lots of fake blood. Of course they were put into the ring and they hopped around on each other and began to get aggressive but then it would be stopped. Thus the words "no animals were harmed during the making of this film" is true. It was important to show that this type of thing was going on at the time (many people didn't believe it), and how brutal it was.
3 Reviews
You know it's good if it's about cockfighting and you can't look away.
meninas19 March 2000
The movie starts with a Chester Himes quote--a big clue to its atmosphere. Both gritty and haunting, the story concerns illegal cockfighting in France (minimal carnage), with a lot of overlaid metaphor. "Cock, man, same thing." This is a typically slow, thoughtful Claire Denis film (does any woman take on more masculine subjects?). Everything is played under the surface; in fact, the images and montage are so strong, it might as well be silent. Key motivations are implicit, not explicit. Alex Descas, as the Caribbean cock-trainer, is the soul of the movie, as a man fatally in love with another man's wife.
S'en fout la mort (No Fear, No Die)
jboothmillard24 April 2018
Warning: Spoilers
I have made it a mission to complete the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, there are many titles in it I never would have heard of before, and this French film is one such title, and I hoped one that deserved to be in the book, directed by Claire Denis (Beau Travail). Basically Dah (Isaach De Bankolé) from Benin and Jocelyn (Alex Descas) from the Caribbean are two young men who decide to work together to gain quick cash. They team up to organise illegal cockfights, the blood sport between two cocks (roosters), held in a ring called a cockpit. Dah is responsible for the financial transactions while Jocelyn trains the animals. Jocelyn has a special attachment to one of the champion roosters, he has named it No Fear, No Die. Dah and Jocelyn have a third partner, Pierre (Jean Claude Brialy), who owns the space where the cockfights take place, he and Jocelyn have known each other since Jocelyn and his mother immigrated to France. However, Pierre constantly haggles with the two men over money and insists that the cockfights become more violent urging the men to use razor blades and steel spurs instead of small horns on the birds, he also insinuates after one fight that he slept with Jocelyn's mother. Jocelyn is disgusted and starts drinking, he becomes more and more dejected, he develops an obsession with Pierre's wife Toni (Solveig Dommartin), and names one of the roosters after her. One night, Jocelyn gets drunk and releases the roosters from their cages, afterwards he and Dah learn Pierre has been locking them in and insists on using steel spurs. Enraged, Jocelyn breaks out and flees to Paris, Dah manages to track him down and convinces him to return for one final night to the cockfighting ring. At the final fight Toni asks Jocelyn to take her with him, but he refuses, meanwhile Pierre organises a fight between the rooster named after Toni and one brought in by his gypsy business partners. Jocelyn is unable to watch his rooster die, so he jumps into the ring to rescue his bird, but before he can flee, he is stabbed by Michel (Christopher Buchholz), Pierre's son and Toni's lover. Dah prepares and cleans Jocelyn's body before being arrested, along with Toni, Michel and other members of the cockfighting ring, after Dah is released, he packs his possessions and finally leaves. Also starring Christa Lang as Toni's mother. The cast all do their parts fine, and it is certainly an interesting story about illegal business, the most memorable moments are pf course the cockfighting sequences, which are brutal, even the roosters being prepared and exercised makes for uncomfortable viewing, I wouldn't be surprised if there were complaints of animal cruelty at the time, nevertheless it is a fascinating drama. Good!
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