Apaches (2023) opens with a cockamamie sequence in
JPRetana
Apaches (2023) opens with a cockamamie sequence in which Billie (Chloé Peillex), a street urchin at the time, stabs Sarah Bernhardt (Rossy de Palma) in the…
Apaches (2023) opens with a cockamamie sequence in which Billie (Chloé Peillex), a street urchin at the time, stabs Sarah Bernhardt (Rossy de Palma) in the thigh and steals a ruby- and diamond-encrusted necklace from the famous French stage actress, while her brother and fellow urchin sabotages the scaffoldings surrounding a Statue of Liberty-in-progress (the movie takes place in Paris in the late 19th century) as a diversion. As with the destruction of the second Death Star, no mention is made of the many innocent laborers who surely must have perished as a result of this domestic terrorist attack.
Billie’s brother was killed when Jésus (Niels Schneider), leader of the Apaches gang, forced him to play Russian roulette. Billie attacked Jésus with a knife, giving him a nigh-imperceptible scar under his left eye. Jésus retaliated by pinning her brother’s death on Billie. Billie reemerges 15 years later, now played by Alice Isaaz and bent on going into the Revenge Business.
This film’s problem, other than being the Euro Disney to Gangs of New York’s Disneyland, is that it talks business but it doesn’t mean business. The script lowers the bar considerably as to what Billie is willing to do for the sake of vengeance, only to abstain from having her limbo under it.
Billie follows a row of working girls, purporting to be one of them, to the Apaches’ hangout. I was intrigued to see whether Billie would sleep her way through the Apaches’ hierarchy until she was finally able to get close enough to Jésus. That would have given Billie instant stone-cold cred — and why not? Having come of age behind bars, her only family long dead, it would stand to reason that Billie has been hardened to the point that she’s willing to do anything — or anyone — to avenge her brother and herself.
Then again, you don’t have to actually whore Billie out. You could, however, at least milk the situation for whatever it’s worth. It’s like Syd Field wrote: “If you know your character’s dramatic need, you can create obstacles to it and then your story becomes your character, overcoming obstacle after obstacle to achieve his/her dramatic need.” Billie’s dramatic need is to get back at Jésus. Pretending to be a prostitute overcomes one obstacle — how to approach the gang without raising suspicion — while at the same time potentially creating another; i.e., how to keep up the façade without Billie actually soiling her virtue (sort of like how undercover cops in movies usually, though not always, find ways to avoid engaging in criminal activities). It’s a viable storytelling avenue, albeit not one that co-writer/director Romain Quirot had any interest in.
Overall, it could be argued that Quirot wasn’t interested in what his film was supposed to be about. There was indeed one, or rather several, Apaches gangs in turn-of-the-century Paris, of which Quirot has certainly heard about, though something tells me failed to do his homework.
Consider, to name but one example, the infamous “Apache revolver”: an infernal Swiss Army knife of a weapon — consisting of a barrel-less pinfire pistol, fold-over brass knuckles as a grip, and a foldout double-edged blade — that is conspicuously absent from this movie. How could you look at it and not think that it would make the coolest prop? Unless you neglected to properly research the subject matter.
Of course, the anachronistic soundtrack (including but not limited to The Stooges’ “I Wanna Be You Dog”) and the garish, synthetic Moulin Rouge-esque aesthetic tell you all you need to know about how seriously Quirot took the whole endeavor — and perhaps the audience isn’t meant to make a big deal out of it either. It all goes back to the beginning, which in its farfetchedness precludes the possibility that anything that happens does so in earnest.
At the same time, and in stark contrast to its gaudy exterior and cavalier attitude, Apaches suffers from a terminal lack of joie de vivre (substituting instead the characters’ schadenfreude at their hapless victims), and that’s nothing short of a dealbreaker for a story ostensibly set during the Belle Époque.
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French and poor man - Apache - 's GANGS OF NEW YORK
searchanddestroy-1
I like this ambitious and also clumsy French film, which the most obvious mistake is to use French scores, soundtracks of the sixties for a 1900's atmosphere…
I like this ambitious and also clumsy French film, which the most obvious mistake is to use French scores, soundtracks of the sixties for a 1900's atmosphere, It is totally lousy, I don't understand why doing this. Imagine Matin Scorcese using Lady Gaga songs for a historical film taking place in 1930? But besides this, I don't dislike the movie, epecially the lead female character. I prefered L'EMPEREUR DE PARIS however, for the nearly same settings and overall atmosphere, though not the exactly same period: 1800's for Jean François Richet's film and 1900's for this one. Apaches were the young hoodlums in Paris, suburb ghettos in the early 1900's. The main good thing about this film is that it is not cheesy, but tragic, sad. Not so many features were made about this period, except CASQUE D'OR, back in the fifties, and also a short film: LE REVE DES APACHES, a couple of years ago.
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★ 6 / 10
My brothers ...
kosmasp
... Keeper? Or Killer? Well no pun intended (first things first), but let's be honest, you will not be too surprised by most things that happen in the movie.…
... Keeper? Or Killer? Well no pun intended (first things first), but let's be honest, you will not be too surprised by most things that happen in the movie. It is sometimes a bit underwhelming I reckon ... but it is nice to see an action (gang) movie from Europe just trying to stay afloat ... the action is overall well done too.I did not think of this as a Gangs of New York type of movie - but I guess if that helps you enjoy the movie ... go for it. Just be humble and remember the movie is not a high budget affair. So just approach this with the given amount of respect and relaxing attitude. Just saying - enjoy the show and the revenge story too ...seen worse. Music is good.
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5.3/10
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