The 1952 French smash Fanfan
La Tulipe
introduces its wandering rogue protagonist Fanfan (Gérard Philipe) in the
middle of what seems to be a typical day. Having "tumbled" a farmer's daughter
in the middle of the afternoon, he's caught in a post-coital nap by the farmer
and a small mob. Sensing charm might not be enough to get him out of the
situation, he jumps in a nearby river and swims away without a second thought.
It doesn't work—the film cuts almost instantly to the crowd attempting to
drag a wet Philipe to the altar—but that gesture, the kind signifying a
person who believes himself completely free, captures much of what's appealing
(and a little suspect) about the film's hero.
Directed by the venerable
Christian-Jaque, Fanfan La Tulipe plays like an extension of its protagonist's
personality. It's so pleased with its own ability to be charming that all other
concerns fall away. Christian-Jaque became a favorite target of the French New
Wave, perhaps in part because of that urge to please without any hidden agenda.
Still, it seems unfair to pick on a movie with no greater ambition than
entertainment, when it makes good on that ambition so thoroughly.
Charming Philipe flits
from one adventure to the other after evading marriage by joining the army of
Louis XV in the midst of the Seven Years' War. He's motivated less by
patriotism than by a consultation with a voluptuous phony fortuneteller (Gina
Lollobrigida), who promises that joining will serve as the first step toward
his destiny of marrying the king's daughter. Philipe takes Lollobrigida's
prophecy to heart even after she's revealed herself as a charlatan and clearly
taken a liking to him herself.
From there, the two
winning stars flirt and fight between outbursts of well-staged swashbuckling
that grow grander as the film progresses. Trouble reliably finds Philipe, who
just as reliably evades it. The almost absurdly lighthearted film occasionally
uses its setting to emphasize the absurdity of war—paving the way for
Richard Lester's Musketeers films a couple of decades later—but it's
largely there to be loved unreservedly, and it seems happy to leave behind
pleasant memories and nothing more.
Key features: A documentary on Philipe's
career, politics, and short life as a post-war superstar.