La cité de la peur (1994)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Alain Berbérian

Writers:

Alain Chabat (writer)
Dominique Farrugia (writer)

Release Date:

9 March 1994 (France)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Odile Deray est attaché de presse pour le film "Red is Dead". Mais au festival de Cannes, personne ne veut regarder un tel navet...

Plot Keywords:

Cannes | Cannes Film Festival | Movie Projector | Gun | Cannes France

Cast

Chantal Lauby	...	Odile Deray / Louise, journaliste TV
Alain Chabat	...	Serge Karamazov / Youri (dans "Red is Dead") / Jacques, journaliste TV
Dominique Farrugia	...	Simon Jérémi / Benjamin (dans "Red is Dead") / Michel, journaliste TV
Gérard Darmon	...	Commissaire Patrick Bialès / Maurice Bialès / Alicia Lampéro
Sam Karmann	...	L'homme inquiétant / Youri / Émile Gravier
Patrick Lizana	...	Grimaldi
Jean-Christophe Bouvet	...	Jean-Paul Martoni, le député du R.E.P.N.
Eric Prat	...	Garcia
Marc de Jonge	...	Le patron de Karamazov
Valérie Lemercier	...	La veuve de M. Jacques
Tchéky Karyo	...	M. Jacques, le projectionniste #1 (as Tcheky Karyo)
Jean-Pierre Bacri	...	Le projectionniste #3
Daniel Gélin	...	M. Mireille - le projectinniste #2
Eddy Mitchell	...	Le projectionniste #4
Hélène de Fougerolles	...	Sandy (dans "Red is Dead")

Also Known As:

Fear City: A Family-Style Comedy
Le film de les nuls

Runtime:

93 min | Italy:102 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | English | Swedish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

France:U | Spain:T

Filming Locations:

Aéroport International, Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, France

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Analyse diégetique d'un film matriciel (2004) (V)

the city of laugh: a successful comedy

This is "Les Nuls"'s first movie and if it isn't a masterpiece, it's an enjoyable comedy. Odile Deray is the press attaché for the film "Red Is Dead" but the film is so dumb that reporters don't want to promote it. However, the projectionist is killed and due to this it creates a great publicity around the movie and meanwhile murders go on. Then Deray is asking a cop (Serge Karamasov) to protect not only the projectionists but also the main star of the film: Simon Jérémi.... Alain Berbérian and "Les Nuls" have made a funny film which is full of clever visuals and ringing brainwaves; the best example is the murder of the fourth projectionist when "Les Nuls" are adding the sound effects to the scene themselves! Moreover, the comic of the film is very fanciful and there are some useless elements but it's because they are useless that they are funny. For example, we learn Patrick Bialès's whole life (the main inspector of Cannes) but it brings nothing to the plot! The screenplay, in spite of several weaknesses, is inspired and full of numerous details and sentences that score the bull's eye.

The movie is well made thanks to its actors too and I am under the impression that they, voluntarily, don't take themselves seriously , especially Gérard Darmon who is irresistible in his first appearance when he answers the reporters in several languages! Even famous French actors have got a small role (Tcheky Karyo, Daniel Gélin, Jean-Pierre Bacri and Eddy Mitchell are in the projectionists' roles)! At last the film is obviously a parody of horror and detective films. I think about "Psycho" when the projectionists are killed. To sum up: a fanciful but efficient comedy and if you watch it for the first time, you might be disappointed. You have to watch it several times to appreciate it. It happened with me.