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1830, times of civil unrest in France: For months, famed criminologist
Vidocq (Gérard Depardieu) has been following the Alchemist, a
hooded villain wearing a mirror mask, now finally he has tracked him down
in the glassworks ... but in their showdown, Vidocq perishes when he falls
into a burning furnace ... but not without first getting a look at the
Alchemist's real face under the mask.
Vidocq's biographer Etienne Boisset (Guillaume Canet) cannot accept the
fact of Vidocq's death, so he meticulously retraces his steps, which start
with a case of three men (Jean-Pol Dubois, André Penvern, Gilles Arbona)
having been killed by lightning, and leads to exotic dancer Préah (Inés
Sastre), a popular whorehouse, a revolutionary journalist (Francois
Chattot), the opium addicted wife (Isabelle Renauld) of one of the
deceased ... and to a terrible secret: Fact is, the three dead men wanted
to achieve eternal youth, but when they realized they were getting on a
bit, they turned to the mysterious Alchemist for help - who promised to
mix them the potion of eternal youth if they just sent him enough virgins,
whose blood he needed for the potion ... and since the three men had more
than enough money, it was no problem to acquire little girls from the poor
...
However, on one hand, the Alchemist was using the blood of the virgins
for his own end - he was making a mask that can steal people's souls out
of it -, on the other hand, his three customers got cold feet, so they had
to die.
Finally, with the help of Préah and Vidoqc's partner Nimier (Moussa
Maaskri), Boisset tracks down the only witness to Vidocq's death - and to
his surprise the witness turns out to be Vidoqc himself, who didn't die in
the furnace after all but saw an escape route of all things in the
Alchemist's mirror mask. Then though Boisset turns out to be the
Alchemist, and they have their showdown all over again, and in the end,
Vidocq defeats the Alchemist in a room of mirrors (which reflect his
mask's soul-stealing powers) and ultimately slays him with a sharp piece
of mirror and throws him into the river Seine ... to his death, one
wonders ...
There is no doubt, Vidocq, a film based on the historical figure
of famed criminal turned criminologist Francois-Eugène Vidocq but not his
biography, is a feast for the eye, the visual style of the film is next to
perfect, a succession of carefully composed images and breathtaking
setpieces that blend real-life action and occasional CGI-effects far
better than most contemporary big budget Hollywood flicks.
Unfortunately though, the film, a confusing blend of down-to-earth
murder mystery and far-out horror-fantasy, is far from perfect on a plot
level, as a murder mystery it is way too full of plotholes, when the
supernatural elements set in, the film loses direction and the showdown in
the room of mirrors is almost ridiculous. Plus, the central character of
the biographer Boisset remains disappointingly flat during most of the
film, and Guillaume Canet does little to bring him to life. And besides
all that, the film resembles Alex Cox' earlier (and better) Death and
the Compass (1992) much too closely to be mere coincidence ...
This all is not to say that Vidocq is utter shit, the film definitely
has its moments - but it could have been so much better with a better
script.
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amazon.de
eThaiCD.com
find Vidocq at adultvideouniverse.com
