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Fanfan la Tulipe, 1952
The dashing Fanfan (Gerard Philipe) takes one too many rolls in the hay with a farmer’s daughter and finds himself headed for a wedding to the young woman. He is “saved” by Adeline (Gina Lollobrigida), the daughter of a recruiting officer, who promises him that if he joins the military, he is destined to marry the King’s daughter. Fanfan joins, but his feelings for Adeline begin to complicate his desire to win over the princess.
A handful of action sequences elevate a cartoonish plot.
It’s hard to say too much about this film, as it’s one of those movies that immediately began fading from memory the moment I finished it. The strength---and probably also weakness---of the film is that it plays out like a cartoon. It’s very episodic in nature as Fanfan gets into a series of adventures that show off his charm and physical prowess. Philipe is certainly mostly very endearing in the lead role, and the chemistry between Philipe and Lollobrigida more than sells their romantic arc.
I also liked the overall arc of the plot, whereby Fanfan believes he has a destiny and a mix of coincidence and scheming brings him closer and closer to it. For example, he saves a woman in a carriage who is being attacked by bandits, only to later find out that she is the King’s daughter. There’s a fun combination of good luck and the main character making his own luck.
On the down side, I never connected all that strongly with the characters. I suppose Adeline was the most sympathetic to me. One of the very first sequences in the film involves Fanfan talking pretty cruelly about the young woman he just slept with in a way that publicly humiliates her, and that put up a wall between me and the character that never dissolved as the story went on.
A slight, breezy adventure romance good for low-key viewing.
Fanfan la Tulipe, 1952
The dashing Fanfan (Gerard Philipe) takes one too many rolls in the hay with a farmer’s daughter and finds himself headed for a wedding to the young woman. He is “saved” by Adeline (Gina Lollobrigida), the daughter of a recruiting officer, who promises him that if he joins the military, he is destined to marry the King’s daughter. Fanfan joins, but his feelings for Adeline begin to complicate his desire to win over the princess.
A handful of action sequences elevate a cartoonish plot.
It’s hard to say too much about this film, as it’s one of those movies that immediately began fading from memory the moment I finished it. The strength---and probably also weakness---of the film is that it plays out like a cartoon. It’s very episodic in nature as Fanfan gets into a series of adventures that show off his charm and physical prowess. Philipe is certainly mostly very endearing in the lead role, and the chemistry between Philipe and Lollobrigida more than sells their romantic arc.
I also liked the overall arc of the plot, whereby Fanfan believes he has a destiny and a mix of coincidence and scheming brings him closer and closer to it. For example, he saves a woman in a carriage who is being attacked by bandits, only to later find out that she is the King’s daughter. There’s a fun combination of good luck and the main character making his own luck.
On the down side, I never connected all that strongly with the characters. I suppose Adeline was the most sympathetic to me. One of the very first sequences in the film involves Fanfan talking pretty cruelly about the young woman he just slept with in a way that publicly humiliates her, and that put up a wall between me and the character that never dissolved as the story went on.
A slight, breezy adventure romance good for low-key viewing.