User reviews

I agree with those who praise this movie for having fabulous cinematography. There are many picturesque scenes and the natural settings are beautifully captured. And if you're a Gaspard Ulliel fan, you'll probably die for this movie because the whole camera angles seem to be set to compliment his looks.

But aside from these aspects, the movie is quite awkward. Not to mention strange use of slow-mo, the plot jumps around and lines are ill-written. Comic reliefs pop up in inappropriate moments and the director seems to be trying hard to include pretty much every possible characters in the script. It would've been better if they had been given less to speak. Now they look like they're trying to convince the audience how they're feeling. There is no art of silence in Jacquou le Croquant. This may be due to lack of acting talent observed throughout the movie (perhaps exception of Tchéky Karyo). Gaspard Ulliel exhibits no emotions, not so much as intense anger or frustration. You'll know how serious I am when I say his performance in Hannibal Rising seems much better by comparison. There is no charisma when he leads the townspeople to rioting; he looks like he's being led by someone else.

What the movie promises on its poster or DVD cover is a powerful historical piece with intriguing characters and extravagant battle scenes. You'll find none of those in Jacquou le Croquant. When you think about it, there's really nothing new in the storyline: an orphan of a lower class who is treated unjustly by a noble and is driven to vengeance. And in such a genre as this one does not need much skill to act. The roles are simple and clearly laid out; these aren't some complex characters which deserve a long time of research. And with accomplished cinematography, Jacquou le Croquant should've been much better.

I would recommend this movie if you like all things French (like I do) or Gaspard Ulliel, or if you'd just give it a go for the sake of beautiful scenes. However if you put heavy emphasis on plot structure or are just tempted by the poster, this movie isn't worth your money.

"Jacquou le Croquant" (2007), directed by Laurent Boutonnat, is a French historical drama based on the novel by Eugène Le Roy. The film tells the story of Jacquou, a young peasant boy living in Dordogne during the Bourbon Restoration period.

The plot revolves around Jacquou's life as he witnesses the oppression of his family and fellow peasants by the cruel nobility. After his father is killed for defending their home, Jacquou vows to avenge his death. He grows up under the care of a priest, becoming a servant, but his desire for justice remains strong.

The film features strong performances by Gaspard Ulliel as Jacquou, Marie-Josée Croze as his mother, and Albert Dupontel as his father. The cinematography by Olivier Coccoz captures the beauty of the French countryside, while the score by Laurent Boutonnat adds to the emotional depth of the story.

The film was nominated for Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction at the César Awards in 2008.

Rating: 7/10.

Eugene Le Roy's book has become a classic .It was transferred to the screen as (very good)TV miniseries by Stellio Lorenzi in the late sixties.

Jaquou's story was told in the first person by a very old man (Jaquou) who remembered all his trials.It was told with a great simplicity .One remembers the first chapter (Christmas night) when the child and his mother attend the service in an icy church ,then watch the food intended for the nobles ."There's nothing good in here" the mom says ,when they come back home.This scene is completely botched in the film.

Boutonnat butchered "Jaquou Le Croquant".I dare anyone who has read the book to like it.Taking liberties with Eugene Leroy ,the movie turns the oubliettes scene (one page or two) into a horror sequence where Jaquou escapes without any help (Le Roy never wrote such nonsense).The long conversations between the priest and the freethinker knight are reduced to the minimum,which is a shame for Olivier Gourmet ,Tcheky Karyo and veteran Dora Doll (she was already there in the French forties)as Fantille give the best performances of the movie.

In the last thirty minutes,Boutonnat turns Jaquou into a French Rambo ,with the crowds ridiculously chanting his name (JA-QUOU!JA-QUOU!JA-QUOU !) as if they were on a stadium ,cheering their favorite football player.Whereas Le Roy's style came straight from the heart (his hatred for the royalty and the Ancien Regime was real but he did not impose a history lesson upon his readers),Boutonnat uses a showy style,using too many slow motion pictures ,squandering the high budget in video game style battles .

Like in America ,this tendency to remake fine miniseries ("Belphegor","Jaquou" )as silver screen movies has become a curse in France.

I saw this movie in the avant-premiere in a little cinema in the Dordogne. The music in this movie is very enchanting, the images are almost like paintings, so beautifully shot, such a fantastic nature. This movie is very powerful with lots of drama and love. Laurent Boutonnat has definitely evolved artistically since his last movie Giorgino (1994). Also the music, besides the classical Boutonnat elements, like arpeggios of violins, synthesizers mixed with acoustical instruments, ethnic instruments, in-versed chords and simple melodies, has definitely evolved. The main character (Jacquou), played by Gaspard Ulliel is very believable. The title song is sung by the French icon Mylène Farmer.

First, you enjoy cinematography. Second, the performances of Dora Doll, Tcheky Karyo, Olivier Gourmet and Gaspard Ulliel. It is just one of many historical French films about young heroes , their revenge story, their love adventure. For the fans of genre, a delight. For the other, a comfortable, beautiful film and romantism in large doses. So, correct and fair are the good definitions for this adventures film , seductive scene by scene .

I had the memory of a "Jacquou Le Croquant", hero of a TV mini-series of my childhood, who had lost his parents by the fault of an aristocrat and more generally because of the post-Napoleonean social classes system, and who came to a revenge by leading a revolt especially against that social system and against the man which incarnates the cause of the tragedy of his family. On the basis of that, one expects to see a social fresco full of various emotions that goes along with the rich History of France of that period: tragedy, love, revenge, popular revolt (revolution against the established order), freedom seeking, and other great emotions which accompany this kind of epic stories… But it is not the case.

The narration is too slow and really insipid. The actors are just as pale as the story and its rhythm. What a waist for such a beautifully photographed picture! If one can afford to see Laurent Boutonnat's version of "Jacquou" is solely because it's good-looking at. Costumes and the decoration are really really superb! The director definitely is a good director of photography, and even a good soundtrack composer but certainly not a storyteller, definitely not a director.

Jacquou le Croquant is a good production that is unfortunately too long and too slow. Some parts are unnecessary and could have been taken out, or at least shortened. These two flaws will turn off a lot of people.

However, if you can keep up with the snail pace, the movie is pretty good with a fair mix of action and touching moments. The first part of the story follows Jacquou as a young boy who loses both of his parents, and ends up being taken care of by the churchman of the village. The second part covers his revenge against the man who is responsible for the death of his parents now that he is a young man.

The dialogues and acting isn't all that great, but the actor(s) playing Jacquou is cute as a kid and handsome as an adult (the two lead actresses are very beautiful as well). The sceneries and imagery is simply breathtaking and the melodies enchanting. The movie is definitely great to look at, if anything, despite the weak storyline (but still does the job of staying interesting all the way through).

Jacquou le Croquant is nothing special, but to the right audience it's a good movie in all respect.

If cinematography and period settings were not present, this film wouldn't be able to get any attention. Why? OK, here I go. First thing, above all others, is that when anybody attempts to make a popcorn flick outside of the States, the product will fail, for sure.

Second, the idea is good, but the rendering of it came out pretty lame with the thankful exceptions of a few shots, especially when Leo (the younger Jaquou) is present. But, all in all, it's a very predictable, un-original and so-so film.

Third, it's an action film so full of clichés that, with a grain of imagination, it turns out to be as dull as a Big Mac.

French films, when they're true to their origin, are usually reflective, deep, difficult, full of drama and demanding for most audiences. But, in this particular occasion, joining some other flops, enormous amounts of money went down the drain -literally, if you've already seen this film.

Olivier Gourmet, one of the most talented actors in France, could make some people, like me, watch this film. Please, if you like Olivier's previous work, don't. He's, to say the least, sketchy.

I'm not a connoisseur of French cinema, so this movie was an incursion into little-known land for me. It was based on a book that I never found in a book-store, so I do not know how to judge the quality of the adaptation. About the film, specifically, I can say that I did not think it was totally bad, but it could be downright better. The film entertains, but it is too melodramatic, is loaded with exaggerated appeals to the sentimentality and, at times, sounds absurd.

Let's start with the positive aspects ... among the actors, the young Leo Legrand stands out in a sentimental and emotional interpretation, Marie-Josée Croze in a brave character and Jocelyn Quivrin, who managed to turn the villain into a truly despicable figure. Gaspard Ulliel, Albert Dupontel and Olivier Gourmet, despite the prominence of their characters, did only what they had to do. The dialogues and interpretations did not prevail for the dedication, but fulfilled with the minimum required. The scenarios, the construction of the period environments and the costumes are very good, emphasizing the historical rigour. The soundtrack sounded just as good.

The plot starts from a very interesting idea, which is a story of revenge and struggle against injustice in the midst of post-Napoleonic France ... a time when royal power wanted to reverse the most radical ideas of the revolutionary period and come back to the old order. After an injustice that cost the life of his father, Jacquou will devote his life to fighting the man behind his misfortune. The problem starts with the amount of clichés that are appearing, and that get worse as the film moves towards the end. The siege of the castle is truly unbelievable, just like the scenes in the underground or love triangle in the movie. The action scenes are awful, some of them totally absurd and unrealistic.

This movie is not a total waste of time, but it is very close to it and saved only by the details.

Excellent story, narrated in a strong raw sentimental way. With great performing from everyone in the cast as well as every cinematographic aspect. Photography, more than beautiful. Even though the picture is quite long, it didn't turned me off one second. It made me feel sad and happy, it made me cry, it made me wish hope for the character "Jacquou". It gave me weird/good deep feelings,(whatever that means). It is also impossible not to fall in love with the petite Jaquou and Lina and their performances.

Laurent Boutonnat did and excellent film that entertains and enchants. As usual, you couldn't expect less from French Cinema.

Don't miss it!

In early 70s, Jacquou Le Croquant series was a great TV success. Not sure this will be equally the case for this 2007 version. What could have attracted Laurent Boutonnat in Le Roy's novel can be easily spotted here : Wide spaces, fighting between nobles and peasants, post revolution ambiance..

Laurent Boutonnat comeback to movies is unfortunately not a great experience.

Without Mylène Farmer, but all sorts of meaningless symbols and a handful of ready made scenes,this leads to a very disappointing movie, This picture that could have been great is simply a succession of movie-clips , without any coherence.

I have just seen that movie (3 years later after it's release on big screen) and was wondering who was the maker of it. So by curiosity I decided to have a look on IMDb.

Anyway I needed to come back on the comment of "charlesxgonzalez" Please do not take in consideration the review of that person that obviously is a joke...

Jacquou le croquant is a GREAT movie, beautiful actors, beautiful scenery, enchanting musics and great acting.

I would like to know how that kind of comment "Gaspard Ulliel is okay as far as french actors can go" can be a "positive comment" except being a RACIAL and useless comment made by someone that obviously live in the US??

Of course there is not a single "fuck" contains in dialogs every 5 minutes and neither any special effects or some poor classic Hollywood scenario of saving a blonde bimbo from bad guys as USA movie specialty can be...

Obviously "charlesxgonzalez" was expecting for more "skin" which have nothing to do with that kind of movies and should definitely go back to watch some "Baywatch" episodes staring wonderful actors such as "The Hoff" or "Pamela Handerson"...

When I read such poor main comment published on IMDb about a beautiful movie like this, it does make me doubt of the veracity of that reknown website... Come on administrator do something it is a scandal to read that!!

I won't go back on the scenario as people earlier on described it better than I would but on a scale of 1 to 10 I would give it an 8 to the all movie and on a scale of 1 to 10 about "charlesxgonzalez" comment I would give it a -1...

Please people do watch it, please administrator do get rid of charlesxgonzalez comment... It is not constructive and it is RACIAL...(and I am trying to stay polite!!!).

Cheers.

I have just read the other reviews and must say I loved this film enormously because it is so beautiful and authentic to the period, and not in the mindset of those hideous films the American's churn out like popcorn, with Hansel and Gretel with machine guns or whatever. I didn't find the pace slow at all, watching the lead character grow up was sad and gut-wrenching, a beautiful performance by the child actor. This film is filled with subtle tender moments, and also moments of horror early on, when the boy loses his beloved pet dog. The arrogance and non feeling for others less fortunate by the aristocrats set the tone for the film. The sets and country scenes are superb, and once Gaspard Ulliel appears as the boy grown up, you really are aware of a great performance, by one of France's hottest young actors. (soon to be seen as Yves Saint Laurent in the biography picture of that name). I actually wanted more, and wondered what happened to the characters after the film had finished. Its hard to explain how I feel after seeing a good French film. But if you have visited Paris and truly felt its magic, then you are halfway there. This film sweeps you away to another time and place, makes you feel empathy for the characters, makes you shed a few tears, and long for the hero to win. In the end, when Gaspard remembers his childhood dog running through the grass... in his mind, that really got to me.... as all the best classics do. Robert. Australia.