[CRITICAL] the LAW OF THE JUNGLE

In the LAW OF THE JUNGLE, second feature-film d’Antonin Peretjatko after The Daughter of 14 July (2013) – in which a group of friends missed the start of the school following the government’s decision to cut the summer vacation of one month because of the economic crisis, France is incorporated in the majority of unpaid interns and operated. This allows you to reduce costs and to avoid the creation of new jobs. Phew ! And when one is not the intern of the woman of the household, but that it operates within the Ministry of the Standard, it is sent on to the field, responsible for putting in place the projects that are the most wacky. As the construction of a bridge to several million euros between Guyana and Brazil, which, once completed, cannot be used due to a difference of insurance between the two countries. Or the creation of the first indoor ski slope in French Guiana.

There is some truth in these few lines, and in the LAW OF THE JUNGLE (this famous bridge has never been used), but of course also false. But again Peretjatko found his crazy ideas in the absurdity even of the French society, its authorities and certain government decisions. Here, the story is that of Marc Chestnut (Vincent Macaigne), intern at Ministry of the Standard. His mission, he is obliged to accept it, is to from in French Guiana to put the question to the european standards, the shipyard GUYANEIGE. Obviously not in his element, Chestnuts are entrusted to Tarzan (Vimala Pons), a young woman of great character and not really thrilled at the idea of having him be the guide.

At the sight of the LAW OF THE JUNGLE there are many references that come to mind. Obviously Broca’s for his style of French farce, burlesque. Mainly The man of Rio, where Vincent Macaigne would be the equivalent of a far less adventure and comfortable as Belmondo in this exotic backdrop. There is also the Terrence Hill and Bud Spencer in situations that are more clownish. And even a few of the films from the collective ZAZ (David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker, in particular, known for Y a-t-he a pilot in the plane ?) in the comic of repetition and the will to move sometimes towards the film to sketch. However, Antonin Peretjatko is not particularly in homage or in parody. This distinctive style comes before any of the cinematic experience personal to the director. Influence natural of the works discovered in his youth. A fun and entertaining when it is self-same familiar of these films. But if this pleasure can be increased tenfold, which would have some of these knowledge, the LAW OF THE JUNGLE is not opaque to the other. Because the style shifted Peretjatko, already present in The Girl of July 14th, finally something natural and obvious as soon as one accepts his unusual character. With his discoveries all the more absurd and original, the director brings a wind of freshness and exoticism in the comedy and French cinema.

“Antonin Peretjatko brings a wind of freshness and exoticism in the comedy and French cinema.”

Through his brilliant duo Macaigne / Pons, the LAW OF THE JUNGLE is a pure pleasure. The two actors complement each other perfectly, give heart to joy under the leadership of Peretjatko. Him, and, as usual, at once shy and grumpy in the face of this ” fucking nature ! “. She is always at ease, whether with the feet in the mud or a tarantula on the leg. Because Peretjatko has the attention to detail to make something of comic in each plan. Always finding situations all the more wild one than the other, with finesse, and just enough of schoolboy humor. As this love scene wild under powerful aphrodisiac which book without modesty its two lead performers.

With his dialogues were absurd and its aftershocks soon cults – ” The vines it is such as internships. You do not loose not thy vine before having another one “- and the secondary characters just as much (in records totally bonkers, perfectly played by Mathieu Amalric, Jean-Luc Bideau and Fred Tousch free wheel), THE LAW OF THE JUNGLE, we embarked on an adventure delightfully off the wall. However, we can only regret a lack in the plot of Peretjatko, also secondary. With THE LAW OF THE JUNGLE, the producer is not fully in the film to sketch. And although playing on the impracticality to the utmost, there is indeed a story that we’d like to follow. But since it was too modest, and indentation, Peretjatko eventually fall into a hollow two-thirds of the film. A decrease of pace, a lack of dynamism and the sense of turn a little round in the face of a lack of real challenges. Fortunately this moment of weariness does not last and the filmmaker finds a second wind to effectively and efficiently reach and deliver, in the end, the entertainment of the author of excellence.

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