“The
wickedly funny crime caper Wild
Target stars the brilliantly dead-pan
Jean Rochefort, one of France’s
finest
character actors, as a totally-focused
hit-man. If you missed it first time around
at the cinema in 1992, it’s available now
for the first time on DVD!”
MIDDLE-AGED PROFESSIONAL KILLER Victor Meynard (Jean Rochefort, in arguably
his finest ever role) is fast approaching retirement from the family business
passed on to him by his parents in the black comedy Wild Target. During
one of his assignments he is unlucky enough to have a witness to his killing
and he has two choices — either eliminate the young messenger Antoine (Gillaume
Depardieu, son of Gerard) or take him into the business and train him.
Hot-headed Antoine is not only a lousy shot but he also cannot bring himself
to kill, and when they are given their next assignment — to dispose of
glamorous young art forgery dealer Renée (prettily and wittily played by Marie
Trintignant), a petty thief who has conned a notorious gangster — the experienced
and meticulous Victor also finds he is unable to kill the girl.
The out-of-control and amoral Renée, who will steal anything and everything
that is not nailed down, takes on Victor and Antoine to protect her from the
gangster who had hired the hapless hit-man in the first place! The fun steps
up as the unlikely trio hole up in Victor's remote home.
“Events quickly
spiral out of control
for inscrutable professional killer
Victor Meynard
after a pretty thief
turns out to be
a Wild Target...”
But
as the pedantic, obsessively clean and organised Victor realises how hard it
is to live with two difficult young people, things take a turn for the worse
with an unexpected visit from Victor's murderous mother, Madame Meynard (a wonderful
portrayal by Patachou) — who taught him all she knows — and the inevitable
messy final showdown with a very angry client who will go to any lengths to
exact his revenge.
Featuring a superb performance from Jean Rochefort Wild Target is very
funny and compelling, splattered with dry wit and black humour and some well-observed
takes on human behaviour. The English subtitles are easy to read and do not
distract too much from the dialogue.
One of the stand-out French comedies of the Nineties, Wild Target was
released in France as Cible Émouvante and the British remake starring
Bill Nighy, Emily Blunt and Martin Freeman has just been released in cinemas
(June 2010).
• Writer/Director Pierre Salvadori's outstanding
debut, the original wickedly funny crime-caper Wild Target released in
1992, shoots onto DVD for the first time ever, courtesy of Second Sight Films,
on 21 June (2010). RRP: £19.99 | Running Time: 97 Minutes.
"Wild Target is very funny and compelling, splattered with dry wit and
black humour and some well-observed takes on human behaviour" —
Maggie Woods, MotorBar
"Rochefort is quite superb" — Radio Times
"A knockout farce" — Time Out
Wild Target also features: Charlie Nelson as Hector Dremyan; Wladimir
Yordanoff as le Mafioso corse; Serge Riaboukine as Manu; Philippe Girard as
Tony; Christopher Odent as Girard; Philippe Harel as Barnabé; Daniel Laloux
as L'expert; and Pascal Pistacio as Roland Balto. Director of Photography is
Gilles Henry; Original Music by Philippe Eidel; Director of Production is Patrice
Arrat; Co-Produced by Gérard Louvin; Produced by Philippe Martin; and Original
Story and Directed by Pierre Salvadori.
“The
wickedly funny crime caper Wild