> REVIEW
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The Fairy (2011)
Everybody just dance…
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By Danila Lipatov | June 2012
DIRECTOR(s): Dominique Abel / Fiona Gordon / Bruno Romy
WRITER(s): Dominique Abel / Fiona Gordon / Bruno Romy
Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon and Bruno Romy’s previous silent comedy revivals, Rumba and L’iceberg proved to be much more than just vintage slapstick curiosities; single-minded and visually stunning their irresistible outings evoked the spirit of Chaplin, Keaton, Bausch and most notably Tati with their deliciously absurd tales. However, their latest offering, The Fairy differs slightly from its predecessors – its protagonists have the ability to speak.
Hotel receptionist, Dom (Abel) wastes his nights watching TV and eating sandwiches with too much ketchup, but when a mysterious drifter, claiming to be a fairy (Gordon), pays him a visit and grants him three wishes, Dom suddenly finds himself swept up in a rom-comic collection of delightful set-pieces.
Many elements in The Fairy bring to mind Aki Kaurismaki’s recent Le Havre (terse slacker protagonist, African immigrants with the ferry leaving to England and, of course, the colourful depiction of the port town), but ultimately it’s hard to compare Kaurismaki’s focused masterpiece with Abel, Gordon and Romy’s rat-a-tat-tat approach.
It’s an undeniably charming film but the flimsy narrative struggles to match silent cinema’s slapstick standards with its vivid inventiveness and explosive thrills. In addition, the decision to let the characters speak should have made better use of memorable voices, patches of speech or even funny accents to exploit the cinematic gift of sound. Sadly, the dynamic trio’s oeuvre is never fully realised and goes almost unnoticed.
There’s still joy to be found in the precise cinematography by regular contributors Nicholas Girault and Claire Childeric, as well as the sublime musical numbers that show where Abel and Gordon’s talents really lie. With their lazy stretchy movements and slim limbs the charismatic pairing perform a truly hilarious and unmissable underwater dance with garbage bags as a chorus.
Due to such flashes of cinematic genius, expectations for the duo still remain high and we’re always looking forward to their next number together – following the lines of Dinah Washington’s leisurely tune from the film’s opening: “What a Difference a Day Makes” – hopefully we’re bound to have many more sunny days with Abel and Gordon’s optimistic silent cinema vignettes.
Script…………………………………………………………………………………………….
An unbalanced narrative that is is rife with flaws, and ultimately isn’t worthy of a
slapstick talkie. 2
Direction………………………………………………………………………………………..
Abel, Gordon and Romy prove once again they’re far more suited to staging
impressive dance sequences and plastic gags rather than sustaining a full-length
film. 3
Verdict…………………………………………………………………………………………..
Messy, flawed and yet absolutely captivating. There’s simply nothing quite like
an Abel, Gordon and Romy (mis)adventure. 3
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