Comme un Avion
23/12/16 Filed in: Amazon Prime
My latest French film viewing on Amazon Prime. It fascinates me how the English titles of French films are often far removed from the original French. In this case 'Comme un Avion' becomes 'The Sweet Escape'. I can see the reasoning behind each, the change presumably reflecting the distributors take on the different cultures.
Michel dreams of being an airmail pilot and spends quite a lot of time walking around with a model plane in his hand simulating flying. Thus you can see where Comme un Avion (as a plane) comes from. Despite being bought flying lessons for his birthday, one suspects that he realises that he will never be an aviator, so when he spots an advert on line for a kayak, his attention is immediately drawn to the similarities of cruising along in a plane and cruising along in a kayak. So he buys the kayak and plans a self-sufficient adventure, having had no training other than practising by walking around on his roof terrace with the frame of the kayak suspended about him as he pretends to paddle.
Michel dreams of being an airmail pilot and spends quite a lot of time walking around with a model plane in his hand simulating flying. Thus you can see where Comme un Avion (as a plane) comes from. Despite being bought flying lessons for his birthday, one suspects that he realises that he will never be an aviator, so when he spots an advert on line for a kayak, his attention is immediately drawn to the similarities of cruising along in a plane and cruising along in a kayak. So he buys the kayak and plans a self-sufficient adventure, having had no training other than practising by walking around on his roof terrace with the frame of the kayak suspended about him as he pretends to paddle.
His wife Rachelle is supportive and drives him to the river, where he diligently unpacks all the carefully assembled survival materials that he has amassed. After a bit of adjustment to his apparel and the amount of stuff he can actually transport, he sets off. There is one false start, requiring Rachelle to return and give assistance, but after that he's on his way. At his first overnight stop he fortuitously finds himself in the grounds of a riverside restaurant and spies a beautiful young woman, Mila, who he follows back to the restaurant. There he also meets Laëtitia, the proprietor and a widow. What follows is Michel's various attempts to leave the restaurant and continue his journey, but it seems that he is destined not to do so, both because of events, and because one senses that he doesn't really want to leave. His initial attraction to Mila is in fact a sideshow to his eventual romance.
This is a very gentle film portraying Michel's mid-life escape, thus the English title. If you like French comedy it's worth a viewing. Watch out for the veteran French actor Pierre Arditi who plays a fisherman who 'looks like' Pierre Arditi.
This is a very gentle film portraying Michel's mid-life escape, thus the English title. If you like French comedy it's worth a viewing. Watch out for the veteran French actor Pierre Arditi who plays a fisherman who 'looks like' Pierre Arditi.