LOGIN
JOIN
1997(1st) ~ 2024(28th)
Puchion Choice : Feature
Michel HAZANAVICIUS
France2008 101 min 35mm C Asian Premiere
A first-time viewer might mistake this film for a rescreening of a James BOND rip-off from the 60s or 70s. The assumption would only be half correct. OSS 117: Lost in Rio is part of France’s worn-out OSS 117 spy franchise, but it was made just last year. The movie is chock full of kitschy entertainment: it boils down the series’ 50-year history and offers a dramatic twist on BOND-esque machismo. There’s enough fun in watching the hero win a shootout against a dozen villains by standing stock still and holding his hand at a precise, fail-proof angle, in his staunch adherence to the principle that the first cabbie who stops for a spy just arriving at the airport is always a bad guy, and in the distinctively French satirization of the vulgar, clownish American spy. Comparing this film with Austin Powers or Get Smart is also interesting, but in terms of pure entertainment value, it falls somewhat short. Its highlight is the mock-earnest performance of Jean DUJARDIN in the role of Hubert. The sixth OSS 117 after Ivan DESNY, Kerwin MATHEWS, Frederick STAFFORD, John GAVIN, and Luc MERENDA, DUJARDIN is not only a spitting image of Sean CONNERY in his prime, but also smart enough not to mess with the dictum, “In broad comedy, serious is funny.” (HUH Ji Woong)