This is not about\u00a0“V for Vendetta”; it’s about\u00a0another Sci-Fi classic.<\/p>\n
Do you remember\u00a0watching the trilogy of “Retour vers le Futur<\/strong>“<\/em> (“Back to the Future”) starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, respectively\u00a0featuring the teenager “Marty McFly” and the savant fou<\/em> (mad scientist)\u00a0“Dr. Emmett Brown”?<\/p>\n The main plot of that movie was to have people from\u00a0notre<\/em>\u00a0\u00e8re <\/em>(our era)\u00a0embark in fantastic\u00a0adventures that\u00a0take place\u00a0throughout\u00a0des voyages dans le temps<\/strong> <\/em>(time travels.)<\/p>\n Now, imagine la situation inverse<\/em>, and wonder what would happen\u00a0instead if people *from the past* would time-travel into our present era?<\/p>\n That’s exactly what Jean-Marie Poir\u00e9<\/strong>‘s 1993\u00a0com\u00e9die<\/em> portrays.\u00a0A movie which has now\u00a0achieved the status of\u00a0un film culte<\/em> <\/strong>(a cult\u00a0or classic movie.)<\/p>\n Before 1993, the French title “Les Visiteurs<\/strong><\/em>” would mainly\u00a0evoke in\u00a0people’s mind another work of science fiction,\u00a0namely\u00a0the\u00a0American\u00a0“hit” Sci-Fi series of 1980’s, also known\u00a0simply\u00a0as “V<\/strong><\/em>“, about reptilian humanoid\u00a0aliens -whose favorite meals\u00a0include\u00a0birds, mice,\u00a0and arboreal\u00a0rodents… vivants de pr\u00e9f\u00e9rence <\/em>(alive, preferably)-\u00a0striving to exert complete and unchallenged control over\u00a0the populations and\u00a0natural resources of our\u00a0planet, under the specious pretext of offering technological and scientific development to us,\u00a0humans –a pretext which of course sounds all too\u00a0“vamiliar”,\u00a0a lot like a d\u00e9ja vu<\/em> of “la mission civilisatrice<\/em>“:\u00a0\u00a0That good old\u00a0rengaine <\/em>(catchphrase), comparable to Rudyard Kipling’s “White Man’s Burden”,\u00a0so often\u00a0uttered and reiterated\u00a0by\u00a0les colonisateurs<\/em>, who are -no doubt!- animated by a\u00a0“noble” and “selfless” motive to help\u00a0les pauvres\u00a0“indig\u00e8nes”<\/em>…\u00a0Only this time it’s the “indig\u00e8nes”\u00a0<\/em>of\u00a0the whole\u00a0plan\u00e8te terre <\/em>(planet earth) who\u00a0pay the high\u00a0price, in exchange\u00a0for\u00a0the “benefits”\u00a0they perceive from\u00a0the\u00a0valuable “mission civilisatrice<\/em>”\u00a0initiated by\u00a0the visiting\u00a0aliens! Coming back to Jean-Marie Poir\u00e9’s “Visiteurs<\/em>” (the movie\u00a0director who adapted to the big screen\u00a0the famous play “Le P\u00e8re No\u00ebl est une ordure”<\/em>), it\u00a0is now ranked\u00a0quatri\u00e8me<\/em> (fourth) in the entire\u00a0history of the French box-office<\/em>, behind “Bienvenu chez les Ch’tis”<\/em> (2008)<\/em>, “La grande vadrouille”<\/em> (1966) with Bourvil\u00a0and comedy genius\u00a0Louis de Fun\u00e8s<\/strong><\/a>, and “Ast\u00e9rix et Ob\u00e9lix : Mission Cl\u00e9op\u00e2tre”<\/em>\u00a0(2002.)<\/p>\n Without\u00a0divulging to\u00a0you any\u00a0d\u00e9voilements majeurs, <\/em>or <\/em>“des g\u00e2cheurs<\/em>“, <\/em>as the Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois dub them\u00a0<\/em>(spoilers), let’s say to those of you\u00a0who haven’t yet enjoyed\u00a0watching this\u00a0classic\u00a0that the movie\u00a0essentially\u00a0follows the adventures\u00a0of the medieval\u00a0duo <\/em>Godefroy De Montmirail<\/strong>, played by Jean Reno<\/strong>,\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>and his fidel serviteur<\/em> (faithful servant) and at times acolyte <\/em>(sidekick)\u00a0Jacouille\u00a0‘la Fripouille’ <\/strong>(“Fripouille” <\/em>in colloquial French means “crook”, or “scoundrel”),\u00a0played by Christian Clavier<\/strong>, who both\u00a0originally live in 1123 AD, and then find themselves t\u00e9l\u00e9transport\u00e9s<\/em>\u00a0towards the end of the XXe si\u00e8cle<\/em>,\u00a0after being tricked to\u00a0kill the\u00a0duc Fulbert de Pouille<\/em>\u00a0because of\u00a0une\u00a0potion magique\u00a0<\/em>concocted by une m\u00e9chante sorci\u00e8re… <\/em>(You know, the type of witches that\u00a0one would run into\u00a0in Capucine’s fairytale<\/a>, for example!) And then this one too,\u00a0boasting a great performance by Val\u00e9rie Lemercier<\/strong>, <\/strong>which in 1994 earned her a C\u00e9sar award(*)<\/strong>, the French equivalent of the Oscars.<\/strong><\/p>\n (*)\u00a0About les C\u00e9sars<\/strong>: A\u00a0small\u00a0clin d’\u0153il<\/em><\/em> to Papa<\/em> who just celebrated his\u00a0birthday:\u00a0Joyeux\u00a0Anniversaire Papa !<\/em>\u00a0:`)<\/em><\/p>\n
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\n<\/em>Here is le g\u00e9n\u00e9rique<\/em> (the intro) of the original series\u00a0“V<\/strong>” <\/em>aired on French TV channel M6\u00a0<\/em>(which by the way has made a comeback<\/a> to ABC\u00a0in 2009, with Scott Wolf who looks just like<\/a> the aforementioned Michael J. Fox…)
\nhttp:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=qNdP5LNIrKo<\/a><\/p>\n
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\n<\/em><\/strong>Here’s a fantastic scene from the beginning of the movie:
\nhttp:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=g2OciyKJuHY<\/a><\/p>\n