Bon Voyage

Starring:Isabelle Adjani, Yvan Attal, Aurore ClÃ©ment, Peter Coyote, Edith Scob, GÃ©rard Depardieu, Jean-Marc Stehle, Virginie Ledoyen, GrÃ©gori DerangÃ¨re, Michel Vuillermoz, Pierre Diot, Nicolas Vaude, Xavier De Guillebon, Nicolas Pignon
Director: Jean-Paul Rappeneau
Studio: Tva Films
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Movies for the French classroom
C'est Bon...
Playful French Fantasy
A Bad Wig and Even Worse Teeth
so so

Bon Voyage
Starring: Isabelle Adjani , Gérard Depardieu , Virginie Ledoyen , Yvan Attal , and Grégori Derangère
Director: Jean-Paul Rappeneau
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0002C4JIK
Release Date: 2004-08-17

Amazon.com

Occupied France the subject of a deft, breezy comedy? Believe it. Bon Voyage gathers a collection of romantics, fools, and survivors, and puts them together in Bordeaux in 1940. Loosely arranged around the ditzy figure of a famous grand-dame actress (Isabelle Adjani), these hapless creatures trip over each other very amusingly during the course of a couple of frantic days. The central character is actually a young writer (the winning Gregori Derangere), who's torn between panting after the actress or aiding the pretty daughter (Virginie Ledoyen, 8 Women) of an important scientist trying to escape to England. It would be hard to say that any of this amounts to anything substantial, but director Jean-Paul Rappeneau whips it together very attractively, and the Bordeaux location offers luscious views of a pre-war city. Rappeneau's delightful 1966 comedy La Vie de Chateau, set in Normandy just before D-Day, treads some of the same turf. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

Movies for the French classroom.......2007-06-05

If you want your students to be spellbound, this is a great one!

C'est Bon..........2007-05-13

I've only recently started watching foreign films regularly. And I can't say that I've enjoyed them all (or that my favorite foreign films could ever surpass my favorite American films, even though I'm not necessarily saying that they couldn't though), I liked this one. It's very quick paced, but not in a way that you can't keep up. It's got several genres wrapped up into one film: romance & mystery & action & history & comedy. It's not likely to bore anyone because there's so much going on all the time. And again, not in a way that one can't stayed invested the whole time though. And in all the characters basically. Overall, the preview I saw for it intrigued me enough to watch it, and the movie turned out to be exactly what the preview suggested.

Playful French Fantasy.......2006-09-06

Bon Voyage doesn't take itself seriously and occasionally trips gloriously over romantic moments that turn into comical charades to leave you laughing. The topic at hand is actually quite serious (War Time panic), that is why the frivolous actions of the main character seem so out of place and bizarre, although instigated mostly by her fear of discovery.

Here you will find Isabelle Adjani wearing sumptuous clothes and adorable hats and clinging to every man who will give her safety, not to mention crying pitifully into pillows for attention. Her adorable vulnerability is however overplayed to the point where she starts to lose the respect of the men she so desperately needs.

You have to love the scene where she suddenly decides to go shopping and jumps from the car and runs into a store. She is definitely a victim in the plot, but can't come to terms with the accidental murder and relies heavily on wealthy men of influence to get her out of any difficult situation that may mar her perfect existence. She mostly runs through the movie scared and insecure and waiting for the next opportunity to be saved.

In terms of artistic excellence, this movie flies beyond expectation and truly raises the bar in scenes of natural splendor, forests and gorgeous apartments. From the start you are invited into an intimate circle of connections that intertwine through the story with elements of romance to leave you emotionally satisfied, while still smiling. Worth watching for the cinematic beauty alone and the comedic elements are a true bonus and were very unexpectedly funny.

~The Rebecca Review

A Bad Wig and Even Worse Teeth.......2006-07-09

This film was all right. The trailer led me to believe it was a delightful, lighthearted comedy. Well, not much laughing going on. Not because it was a serious movie. I didn't laugh simply because I didn't see anything that made me laugh. A smile here or there was best I could conjure up.

The movie is very deliberately filmed in that almost every shot is carefully planned. That, in turn, destroys any sense of spontaneity the film might have. The main male character seems to want to be funny in that his body movements are odd. But, they are also out of place in the film. I hate to use the word weird in describing this movie but it was not what it billed itself to be.

So, is it worth the time to watch? Yes. The characters are likeable. And, saying that in this age of hateful people doing hateful things is a definite plus. It's an old-fashioned style of movie that won't be to everyone's taste. So, be careful buying or renting the film. It isn't for everyone's taste.

Oh, the bad wig is worn by the "movie star" heroine. It was an Ava Gabor wig gone bad! And, the teeth? Let's just say that Peter Cayote needs to see a dentist and fast. His smile is that scary looking! Those choppers need to be replaced Big Time!

so so.......2006-06-22

Everything is upside down in this movie. France is being attacked by Germany, but looks like noone bothers to fight back. Government is trying to sell military secrets to Germans and outlaws criminals are actually do that instead. An innocent person goes to jail. German spies are discussing loudly their plans in German in public places. It's a war time, but things look a little bit messed up but not tragic.

Probably all that mess was supposed to look funny, but to me it's more confusing then laughable. Very average.

Average customer rating:

Was this trip necessary?
Good family movie.
Could Have Been Classic Disney
Fred MacMurray and Jane Wyman in a solid Disney comedy
Ocean liner geeks, please note

Bon Voyage!
Starring: Fred MacMurray , Jane Wyman , Michael Callan , Deborah Walley , and Jessie Royce Landis
Director: James Neilson
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0000DZ3EE
Release Date: 2004-02-03

Description

Comic adventure awaits the Willard family when Harry (Fred MacMurray) packs up the wife and kids and sets sail on a long-awaited "dream" vacation to romantic France. However, their trip includes some unforeseen adventures: his wife Katie (Jane Wyman) is pursued by a Hungarian admirer; his daughter Amy (Deborah Walley) meets a brash young playboy; and Harry himself gets hopelessly lost on a tour of the Paris sewer system! Join the Willards for a hilarious, whirlwind trip they'll never forget!

Customer Reviews:

Was this trip necessary?.......2006-05-09

Draggy family comedy about Americans on vacation abroad wasn't anywhere near top-drawer Disney when it was first released back in 1962--trite, unfunny and decidely kid-unfriendly with its tiresome bickering parents, dreary teen romance subplots and several bizarre un-Disneylike scenes involving drunkeness, a bidet, a French hooker, public urination and even a few mild four-letter words.

It doesn't play any better today in an un-color corrected DVD transfer that frequently makes MacMurray, Wyman and other cast members look like corpses.

One of the biggest live action misfires to be personally overseen by Walt Disney, this DVD edition (with no extras) is a bum trip. Stay home.

Good family movie........2005-10-11

I love the old movies and Fred McMurray so I enjoyed this though I do think it was longer than it needed to be. I love him lost underground. If you are not into old movies and Disney flicks you probably won't enjoy this.

Could Have Been Classic Disney.......2005-10-03

As a child of the 60s I love the old, classic Disney comedies that were released back then. This movie had potential to be one of them, except for a few shortcomings. First, it's WAY too long. Secondly, the sub-plots with the teenage children almost ruin the breezy feel of the movie, turning to heavy-handed soul searching between a lost youth and the Willard family. His presence literally ruins their long-awaited trip to Europe. He follows them everywhere - tell the mixed-up creep to scram! But the musical score is great, very kitschy 60s, and Fred MacMurray is always the wonderful father-figure. This is a good movie, but too bad Disney let it drift away with too many sub-plots and a script that was just too long. Plus, I counted some "damns" and quite a bit of drinking - not very Disneyesque. But for adults, worth a look on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

Fred MacMurray and Jane Wyman in a solid Disney comedy.......2005-03-09

BON VOYAGE is a solid Disney comedy, with Fred MacMurray and Jane Wyman offering their usual strong performances. However, the movie is long and quite laborous, clocking in at almost two-and-a-half hours. A movie like this could easily be told in 90 minutes.

MacMurray and Wyman play Henry and Katie, a middle-class couple on a whirlwind tour of Europe with their three children (Tommy Kirk, Deborah Walley and Kevin Corcoran). This movie features some beautiful cinematography and breezy musical score, and was perhaps an attempt by Disney to step into a more adult-oriented market (the running time alone makes the film a trial for children). In any event, the film did poorly at the box office and Disney returned to it's usual product.

The DVD is in ghastly fullscreen, but let's not carp. BON VOYAGE is a fine if overlong comedy, with great performances from Deborah Walley and Michael Callan.

Also starring Jessie Royce Landis, Georgette Anys and Ivan Desny. Directed by James Neilson. No extras.

Ocean liner geeks, please note.......2005-01-25

As noted in a review above, ocean liner geeks will feel their body temperature rise in "Bon Voyage" as they view the crisp technicolor footage of the Big U back when she still had as much paint on her face as Jane Wyman. The boarding scene offers a sense of the ship's scale as seen from the dock, and the departure sequence lets you go through the motions of a 1950's New York sailing. The finest footage, from a ship-lover's perspective, is shot on deck, including one moment when you see the wake and have a sense of the vessel's speed. If you're a real fanatic, however, you may be disappointed when you realize that the interior scenes were filmed on a sound stage. The sets are very faithful, but look closely at the dining room windows, ballroom furniture, cabin furnishings, hallway linoleum pattern... Oh well, at least Disney put a lot more effort into the decoration for this picture than was done for the recreation of the Liberté interiors in "The French Line" or the Constitution in "An Affair to Remember". Needless to say, the ship part of "Bon Voyage" is over much too soon, though you might enjoy watching Jane as she shepherds her mentally-challenged family through gay Paree. Hmm, maybe it was the Willard family that made General De Gaulle decide to take France out of NATO.

Alfred Hitchcock's Bon Voyage & Aventure Malgache

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Hitchcock's Bon Voyage & Aventure Malgache
Unknown Hitchcock Propaganda Films
Milestone/Image's DVD
French Hitch

Alfred Hitchcock's Bon Voyage & Aventure Malgache
Starring: John Blythe , Paul Bonifas , Paulette Preney (II) , Andre Frere , and Paul Clarus
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00000G0DM
Release Date: 1998-02-25

Amazon.com

While Alfred Hitchcock made several well-known wartime films with intrigue and ambiguous love themes at their core (Saboteur, Notorious), he also made a pair of far less familiar works: two French-language propaganda shorts, Bon Voyage and Aventure Malgache. The two rarely screened works were actually official productions of the British Ministry of Information, designed as tributes to the Resistance movement against the occupying Nazi forces in France. Hitchcock was paid a token fee, but they were really a labor of love for him. Despite that, Bon Voyage received limited play in France and Aventure Malgache was shelved completely by the Brits. Neither movie played in America. It's easy to see why: Bon Voyage, the better of the two, concerns a Royal Air Force gunner whose escape from a German prison is aided by a fellow fugitive he has only just met, and by a succession of Resistance workers who help him get out of the country. Interrogated back in London, the officer discovers he was actually an unwitting dupe whose flight helped the Germans locate and destroy key links in the underground organization.

Equally bleak, Aventure Malgache is a complex, swiftly paced remembrance by a French actor about the duplicity of Vichy collaborators in French-controlled Madagascar. The narrator, making himself up to play his own life in a staged version of past events he describes, was imprisoned by the Vichy government for his Resistance tactics. In essence, the film is about dissension among the French people when it comes to dealing with the Germans. It's a little hard to imagine why Hitchcock would have thought these two morally shaded stories would bolster freedom-fighting spirits. But they each have elements that resonate deliciously with his career-long pet obsessions and themes. Bon Voyage, particularly, is of interest as the tale of an innocent man who unwittingly crosses the line into culpability for evil, a moral murkiness that is key to many Hitchcock films from The Lodger through Frenzy. As a piece of the legacy of one of the most important filmmakers in history, this rare double bill is well worth the visit. --Tom Keogh

Description

Two tales of espionage, suspense and murder by the Master of Suspense himself: "Bon Voyage" and "Aventure Malgache." Made in 1944 to aid the war effort, they were considered inflammatory by the British government and locked away to be forgotten. Now, more than 50 years later, Hitchcock fans can rediscover these lost classics.

Customer Reviews:

Hitchcock's Bon Voyage & Aventure Malgache.......2007-06-08

Interesting wartime shorts....the movies are in French so it requires following sub-titles (a bit of a distraction). A bit unusual from the standard Hitcock fare; obviously driven by some wartime propaganda need for the Allies. These are somewhat rare pieces from extensive catalog of Hitchcock movies.

Unknown Hitchcock Propaganda Films.......2006-05-27

Recently TCM had a Hitchcock festival and included these two shorts in their American debut.

They were made for the French audience and are in French. They were shot in England but used French exile actors.

The description given by Amazon is very accurate on the plot (they are only about 30 minutes long.)

Wneh viewing, you must remember that they were not made as entertainment but to promote the Allied war effort. Therefore, the story is to service this purpose.

This is a must own for any Hitchcock fans. Or those into war propaganda films. If you are looking for classic British Hitchcock, then look elsewhere.

Milestone/Image's DVD.......2004-11-01

It's a shame so few movie buffs know about these shorts. They're low-budget affairs and can't compare technically to Hitch's features, but they offer unique rewards for fans of the Master. "Bon Voyage" is especially interesting, with several recognizable Hitchcock touches (like the climax, which anticipates a similar scene in Topaz). Sidenote: The reason that "Bon Voyage" is better than "Aventure Malgache" is probably because it was co-written by Angus MacPhail (of Ealing Studios), who would go on to work with Hitch on The Wrong Man.

The films were restored by the British Film Institute when they were rediscovered in the early 1990s, and the restoration is pretty good considering that they were made cheaply by the British Ministry of Information and shelved for 50 years. "Aventure Malgache" has fared a little better than "Bon Voyage," with less debris and speckling. But neither has any significant damage. In short, the restoration is fine, but it's not going to wow you like the BFI's recent restoration of Michael Powell's "Edge of the World."

The DVD was a very early (1998) release from Milestone/Image. As such, the transfer is OK, but would be better if done today. The image is a little soft and a little dark. Both films appear in the correct aspect ratio, though for some reason "Aventure Malgache" seems to be slightly cropped at the top of the frame. (It's only noticeable on group close-ups.) Considering the obscurity of these films, I doubt anyone will ever release them in better condition, and the flaws aren't significant enough to deter you from buying it. There are no extras whatever (unless you count the liner notes, which do a satisfactory job of contextualizing the films), and the menu is uninspired. But the chaptering is extremely generous.

All in all, this is an expensive disc for what's on offer, so I only recommend it to people who are already fans of Hitchcock. It would've been nice if Milestone had provided more content (this title just begs for a commentary track). But the folks at Milestone and, of course, the BFI are to be praised for getting these rarities into circulation.

French Hitch.......2000-04-04

Few of Alfred Hitchcock's countless fans are aware that he made two French films, both of which are on this video. Having reached the pinnacle of success with movies such as "Rebecca" and "Foreign Correspondent", Hitchcock was the first choice of the British Government and the French Underground to direct "Aventure malgache" (Madagascan Adventure) and "Bon Voyage" in 1944 to help inspire the French freedom fighters. Can propaganda make good entertainment? In the case of Hitchcock, it is better to ask if entertainment can make good propaganda. Hitch's taste for ironic twists and endless surprises made these two films almost useless to the propagandists, but the result certainly is fun to watch. "Aventure malgache" keeps us guessing as a French underground lawyer outwits the gestapo after some loose lips nearly sink the ships. In the superior "Bon Voyage," Hitchcock goes into high gear, showing us the thrilling escape of a British flyer from a POW camp, and his subsequent fall into a snare of Nazi treachery. Fans of the great TV series "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" will especially like these two short French films, which directly led to the TV series format. Unavailable for some 50 years, these movies turn out to be worth the wait -- not necessarily Hitchcock at his very greatest, but definitely rare gems for the fans of the Master of Suspense.

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Bon Voyage

Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Product Description

The edition contains Director's Commentary and Previews.

Bon Voyage (Original French ONLY Version)

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Bon Voyage (Original French ONLY Version)

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ASIN: B00092FQLW

Product Description

At the start of World War II, the fate of the free world hangs in the balance at the posh Hotel Splendide in Bordeaux. Cabinet members, journalists, physicists, and spies of all persuasions gather in order to escape the Nazi occupation of Paris. High society socialites hobnob with jailbirds. Murderous intrigues, scientific secrets and love affairs flourish. Une actrice célèbre, harcelée par un maître chanteur, le tue dans un moment de panique. A la recherche d'un complice pour dissimuler le corps, elle appelle Frédéric, un jeune homme amoureux éperdu. Ce dernier est coupable idéal lorsque la police retrouve la victime dans son coffre. Commence alors une course-poursuite faite de manipulations, de trahisons et de révélations.

Average customer rating:

Bon...

Bon Voyage
Starring: Isabelle Adjani , Yvan Attal , Aurore Clément , Peter Coyote , and Edith Scob
Director: Jean-Paul Rappeneau
Manufacturer: Tva Films
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00028COR2
Release Date: 2004-07-13

Customer Reviews:

Bon..........2007-05-06

"Bon Voyage" may be the first in the history of film to consider the Nazis a nuisance. Okay, that may be an exaggeration. But this frothy French film uses World War II merely as a backdrop to play out some odd love tetrahedons, although the film never entirely finishes itself.

Struggling writer Frederic Auger (Gregori Derangere) receives a call from his ex-girlfriend, the famed actress Viviane Denvert (Isabelle Adjani) -- she just killed a man (accidently, she claims). Still besotted, Frederic helps dispose of the body, but ends up arrested for the crime, and Viviane doesn't help him. But several months later, as the Germans invade Paris, Frederic manages to escape prison.

Frederic goes to the overcrowded Bordeux, where Viviane is staying with her new lover, the minister of the Interior (Gerard Depardieu). He also befriends an earnest young assistant (Virginie Ledoyen) who is helping a professor smuggle a secret chemical out of the country. As France falls to Germany, Viviane will learn some hard lessons, and Frederic will figure out what he cares about most.

"Bon Voyage" is a pleasant movie that isn't romantic enough to be a romance, not dramatic enough to be a drama, and not comic enough to be a comedy. Instead it could be said to be a movie about a man getting over a crush on a manipulative actress, and finding out what love can really be about.

But it is quite an amusing movie -- one good scene has Viviane fleeing and throwing herself on the bed, weeping; at the same time, she peeks discreetly to see how the maiden-in-distress act is working. And quite a bit of humor is derived from how many of the French people aren't too concerned about the invasion. Sure, everything will work outself out.

A feeling of grimness seeps into some scenes, such as anything involving the potentially explosive "heavy water," and a few fight scenes involving the Germans. However, the main plot has a frothy flavor. The one problem is the ending -- while it has the basic wrap-up, it feels hasty and quickly tacked on. Especially since we never see exactly what happens to Viviane. It's hinted at, but we never hear or see.

Isabelle Adjani does a marvelous job with the shallow, man-hunting Viviane, the kind of gal who always has another guy lined up to take care of her, no matter what happens. Derangere and Depardieu give excellent supporting performances as the former boyfriend and the jealous present lover, but Ledoyen's character is too earnest and simplistic to seem like more than a convenient love interest.

"Bon Voyage" suffers from a weak ending, but the frothy World War II romantic-dramedy is still a pleasant story. Bon Voyage!

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