096 - Fanfan la Tulipe (Fan-Fan the Tulip), 1952, France. Dir. Christian-Jaque.

Thursday, April 6, 2017

096 - Fanfan la Tulipe (Fan-Fan the Tulip), 1952, France. Dir. Christian-Jaque.

The farmer is looking for his daughter.

Where is she?

He enlists the help of the townsmen.

Let's go find her.

They bring pitchforks.

There she is!  Rolling in the hay.  With Fanfan!

Who is Fanfan?  That dastardly devil.  What are you doing in the hay with my daughter?

The men accost him.

The farmer accuses him.

He insults them.

You will marry my daughter.

No, I won't.

He escapes their grasp.  He jumps in the river.  He is caught again.  He is marched down the road to town.

Marched down the road to marry the farmer's daughter.

A Gypsy girl stands alone on the hill.  Her name is Adeline.

She sees the men.  She sees Fanfan.  She comes down the hill.  She comes down and joins them.

She reads his palm.

You will have a life filled with great adventure.  The king's daughter will fall in love with you.  You will marry the king's daughter.

Fanfan believes the Gypsy's fortune telling.  It fits his belief in himself.  He is destined for greatness.

Some bandits are robbing a stagecoach.

A stagecoach containing Madame Pompadour.  And Henriette.  The Princess.  The King's daughter.

Fanfan fights them.  Swordfight!  Fanfan wins.

Maybe the Princess will remember him.

The crowd arrives in town.  This man is to marry my daughter.  No, first he must serve in the Regiment.

We are in the Seven Years' War.

The Seven Years' War covers the nine-year period from 1754 to 1763.

It covered the areas of Europe, West Africa, North America, South America, India, and the Philippines.

Does that not sound like a world war?

It sounds as though World War I was not the first world war.

In Europe it featured England against France.

Christian-Jaque, our film's director, is making fun of war.

He begins the film with a sarcastic description of it, stating that its purpose is to generate quotations learned in history classes.

So when the Regiment takes him, it will be shown in parody.

The men are put through their paces.  Fanfan refuses to get in line.  He adjusts his clothing.  He is hot.  He removes his jacket.

His commanding officer addresses him.  He insults his commanding officer.  He is put in the stockade.

Adeline sits outside his window and talks to him.

She tells him he is foolish.  He laughs.  A man approaches.  Speaks illy of Fanfan.  She defends him.  Says do not pick a fight with him.  He will remember.  He will seek revenge.

Ods bodkins!

The man looks in the stockade window.  Fanfan is not there!  Where did he go?

Fanfan is on the rooftop.  He has escaped.

Throw me a sword!

Someone throws him a sword.

His nemesis, named Fier-a-bras, climbs a ladder.

Swordfight on the roof!

They thrust through the chimney.

They dodge and parry.  They roll down the roofline.  They fall through the roof.  Land in the hay.  Knock over a lantern.  Start a fire.  Explosions.

Fanfan ends up in a tree.  He is one of the family now.  He has proved himself.

Time for the Regiment to move on.

They are now in the town of the king.  The princess, Henriette, is inside the great house.

Fanfan sits outside, with his friend Tranche-Montagne, under a tree, pining for her, plotting how to get to her.

The sentries are coming!

Quick!  Hide!

Fanfan and his friend duck inside the house.  They discuss what to do when they meet the Princess.  They overhear the military men plotting.

The military men overhear them.  They come looking.

Fanfan and friend hide up the chimney.  The men enter the room.  Fanfan's friend falls down the chimney.  Caught.

Fanfan makes it to the roof.  The roof of the great chateau.

He makes it around to the window of the Princess.

He enters her parlor.

She plays the spinet.  He bows behind her.  She does not hear him.  She is caught up in her music.

He sits, chimney-dirty, in her royal chair.

She plays on.

Her servant must enter the room to report to her that a man is in the room.  She stops playing.  She sees Fanfan.  She gasps.

He removes his hat and bows.

Madame, do you recognize me?  The highway.  The bandits.  The Tulip.  Fanfan.

Her eyes suggest recognition.

That is all he needs.  He leaves the room shouting triumphantly.  The King's daughter recognizes me.  It is in the stars.  She will fall in love with me.

A bugle blows.

Back in the camp.

On the orders of His Majesty King Louis XV the court-martial of the armies on campaign has sentenced Fanfan la Tulipe and Tranche-Montagne to death.

Adeline is worried.

Adeline loves him.

They are to be hanged by the neck until dead.  Tomorrow before the regiment.

But he's not like other men.  He can't stand death.

Adeline seeks a meeting with the King.

Henriette grants it because Fanfan once risked his life to save hers.

Adeline appeals to the King.  Her beauty moves the King.  Moves him to grant her one last farewell.  One last farewell with Fanfan before he hangs him.

She kneels at the jail.  Bares her heart to Fanfan.

I love you.

He tells her he loves the Princess.  That she herself started it.

She regrets it.  She made it up.  He says he does not love her.  She leaves.

He feels it is better that way.  When he is hanged she will miss him less.

Fanfan and Tranche-Montagne are led to the hanging.  They have nooses slipped around their necks.

They are dropped.

They are hanged.

What will happen next?

Adventure awaits.

Much more adventure.

Watch and see.

From The Thief of Bagdad (1924) to The Corsican Brothers (1941),
from The Black Pirate (1926) to The Crimson Pirate (1952) to Blackbeard the Pirate (1952),
from Captain Blood (1935) to The Sea Hawk (1940),
from The Prisoner of Zenda (1935) to The Spanish Main (1945),
from Robin Hood (1922) to The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) to Robin and Marian (1976) to Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991),
from Highlander (1986) to Rob Roy (1995),
from The Adventures of Don Juan (1948) to The Master of Ballantrae (1953),
from The Mark of Zorro (1940) to The Mask of Zorro (1998),
from Ivanhoe (1952) to Scaramouche (1952),
from The Three Musketeers (1973) to The Four Musketeers (1974) to The Three Musketeers (1993) to The Musketeer (2001),
from The Count of Monte Cristo (1934) to The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934) to The Man in the Iron Mask (1939) to The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) to The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982) to The Man in the Iron Mask (1998),
from Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) to The Princess Bride (1987) to Robin Hood Men in Tights (1993),
from Treasure Island (1934) to Captain Kidd (1945) to Treasure Island (1950) to Pirates of the Caribbean (2003, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2017) . . .

From Errol Flynn to Tyrone Power to Douglas Fairbanks . . .

Gerard Philippe and Fanfan la Tulipe take their place in the history of swashbucklers and swashbuckling movies.

En garde!