Bluebird

It is very rare to be surprised by a film and all the more so when it does not pass through the hut of a traditional screening in the best place to discover a film, a cinema. Not that films that can be said to be disappointing or not to have met with good reviews or an honorable score when released in their country of origin are released directly on VOD but rather that a film with such potential should already be shared in a cinema before being reviewed on VOD or video (with many bonuses if possible).

Bluebird written and directed by Jérémie Guez is a first film that doesn't really look like a first one as its writing, directing, use of music and especially its interpretation makes this film a big surprise. Borrowing as much from thriller, social film as from western in some ways, Bluebird is an ode to cinema that captures our attention from the first frame and leaves us speechless at the last one.

Based on Dannie M. Martin's novel, Bluebird's form is similar to Nicolas Winding Refn's film Drive (2011), but also to Luc Besson's film The Professional (1994), with its two main characters. A stripped-down staging, minimalist sets (a restaurant kitchen, a motel room, a street in a neighborhood.), everything here contributes to giving real substance to this former prisoner in search of redemption who wants to go unnoticed, work hard and regain his independence, but the daughter of his landlady is looking for a surrogate father.

When we discover the first images of this film, we also think of those westerns in which a stranger with a not so glorious past arrives in the city to settle down and leaves behind his dark side. The character of Danny camped out to perfection by Roland Moller (The Forgotten (2017), Butterfly (2018), Blonde Atomic (2017), The Passenger (2018), Skycraper (2018)) seems to have built his own universe and prefers his solitude more than sharing certain moments with other people. In the cocoon he has built himself, the young Clara will not only try to enter it, but above all take an interest in it. A true friendship bound by a common respect even if the fact that she talks too much disturbs Danny a little. When Clara is the victim of a sexual assault, Danny's dark and vengeful side will resurface and bring a tornado of violence in its wake and above all show that he has a real code of honor and is ready to do anything to protect those he really cares about.

Fascinating is the first word that comes to mind when discovering this film as its writer and director gives an equally important place to action, to the search for realism and specially to bring to life the characters of the novel he adapts to the screen. A writer himself, Jeremy Guez shows with his first film that he has the makings of an excellent storyteller and above all succeeds in playing with the rules of thriller, social film and western to deliver a film of rare emotional strength. Bluebird (A Bluebird in My Heart) is one of those films that you remember long after you see it. It shows that a film doesn't necessarily have to be a visual outburst of violence, outrageous special effects or a constant attempt to give the viewer a preview. To show originality, to succeed with little action in finding the right tempo to give life to a story and above all to show that despite the harshness of life, the human soul can be beautiful but if a person has been in prison and seems to be out of step with his encouragement.

While the film could easily have given birth to a new vigilante like Liam Neeson in Taken or Keanu Reeves in John Wick and despite the fact that Roland Møller is shaped to play this type of role, Bluebird prefers to remain realistic through and through, showing a real friendship between a turbulent teenage girl whose father in prison doesn't want to get back together with his mother and this ordinary man whom society has broken but who tries to hold on to the little he has. Moving, fair and simply racy with a discreet but effective aestheticism, Bluebird stands out as a remarkable and unforgettable first film that we will see again with the same pleasure. Add to this the discovery of a young actress, Lola Le Lann, about whom we are sure to hear and to whom we wish the same career as Natalie Portman, as her role often reminds us of Luc Besson's Mathilda, Bluebird (A Bluebird in My Heart) is a film to discover on VOD that you will love. We are ready to bet on it.

A Bluebird in My Heart
Written and directed by Jérémie Guez
bBased on a Dannie M. Martin’s book
With Roland Møller, Lola Le Lann, Veerle Baetens et Lubna Azabal
Cinematography : Dimitri Karakatsanis
Montage : Didier Diependaele
Music by Séverin Favriau
Executive Producers : Philippe Guez et Stéphane Lhoest
Production : Atchafalaya Films, Labyrinthe Films et Umedia
Distribution : Les Bookmakers / The Jokers (France)
Running time : 85 minutes
Release date : June 16 2020 (France) (VOD)

Seen June 16 2020

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