[critical] INDIAN PALACE : SUITE ROYALE

Je am a part of these spectators, a little psychorigides who don’t appreciate a lot of the suites, except in a few particular circumstances (The Sponsor or the series planned for a long time, like Star Wars). Indian Palace : Suite royale was, of course, director John Madden replacing the cover after a first volume rather successful in 2012, which was a ‘sleeper hit’, a success unexpected. We, therefore, find the same band of retired or almost, well established in his new life in Jaipur, a life organized around the ‘Best Marigold Hotel’, kept by the sparkling Sonny Kapoor (Dev Patel). After the success of his establishment for the “elderly and beautiful” (older but sexy), the latter tries, in fact, constitute a subsidiary going fishing, to financial partnerships in order to open, guess what, a second hotel ! (Hence the crispy original title, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel).

All the world is of the game in this new adventure. Evelyn (Judi Dench), who is exploring tissue. Douglas (Bill Nighy), still not decided to confess his feelings. Madge (Celia Imrie), decided well, it is, to find a soulmate with wealthy Indians. Norman (Ronald Pickup) and Carol (Diana Hardcastle), who had already found. And the inimitable Muriel (Maggie Smith), cultivating his character grumpy at the reception of the hotel she is holding now. It wouldn’t be anything more than a judge, a maid and two or three strings to play the Ten Little Niggers. None of that here, luckily. Indian Palace 2 is first and foremost a feel-good movie that will remind in some ways Mamma Mia !, where Meryl Streep is surrounded this time from Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth in his hostel Greek. We find the same atmosphere, a good convivial meal between friends, the spices.

The strong point ofIndian Palace 2, and this was also true for its predecessor, is, in truth, his mixture of influences, combining the classicism of western cinema and the exuberance of Bollywood in a huge fusion chaotic. Alongside Dame Maggie Smith, keeping up with his phlegm shakespearean, Dev Patel has the air of a whirlwind of vitality, forcing on the indian accent and the costumes out of the novels of Rudyard Kipling. It is in any case a good ambassador, and if you do not feel a sudden urge to India after this film, then it is that you’ve probably bitten a nap. The monumental choreography of which the indian cinema has made a reputation only add to this feeling, in the form of go free for the haunting Jaipur, without leaving his seat.

“Indian Palace 2 is first and foremost a feel-good movie, […] combining the classicism of western cinema and the exuberance of Bollywood.”

It is far, however, the comedy franchouillarde. We talk rightly of the comedy-drama, mark on the time as a source of anguish, without going in spite of everything up to feeling sorry for these poor little old. Yes, Judi Dench and Maggie Smith are now octogenarians. Bill Nighy and Richard Gere (who plays a mysterious writer amateur) have both passed the age of 65. You can’t really disassociate Penelope Wilton ‘s Isobel Crawley, her character of widow with a big heart in Downton Abbey. But we are going to sincerely feel sorry for them, these wise men of the screen ? Not at all. This family-run hotel, in concept, is a hymn to the acceptance of the inevitable, a hymn of the anti-gloominess also. It tells us that good things sometimes arise later, and its residents are the perfect examples, who have left their comfort at an age when others are languishing in nursing homes. Through them, actors and actresses exorcize their own ghosts and assert their right to continue. Not to be abandoned by an industry that their opposing colleagues every time more young and physically pleasant to be around. The cinema, it is not that of the cheeks smooth. This can be also a scarred face, a reflection of the real life in the face of the scourge of cosmetic surgery in the 7th Art.

A sequel was required, to demand, finally, the psycho in me. These problems had already been dealt with by the original. He must confess, after all these praises, that the vein runs out a little, that we never smiled so much in spite of the argument of the casting, rather blameless. A matter of profit ? Going good, have fun in the company of actors that we enjoy it, and it has no price. With this number two, it is suggested, however, that the story has reached its breaking point, as the touching scene of closing the show. And if it ended there ?

The other output of the 1 April 2015

FAST AND FURIOUS 7, SEA FOG, SHAUN THE SHEEP, DIARY Of A chambermaid, THE CHALLAT OF TUNIS, ARNAUD MADE HIS 2ND MOVIE, THE HOUSE with a RED ROOF, INDIAN PALACE 2, FRENCH SUITE, etc