the hooliganism of the Belle Époque in a detective melodrama

After the space opera The Last JourneyRomain Quirot returns to Earth with apache, nickname given to the Belle Epoque to the hoodlums of Paris. Rich in romantic potential, the Apaches, as the thugs of Paris were called in 1900, inspired few films, such as golden helmet (1952), or The Bonnot Band (1966). Romain Quirot, after the science fiction of Last trip (2020) makes it its subject in apache which comes out Wednesday, March 29.

Indians in the city

In 1900 between Montmartre and Belleville, Billie (Alice Isaaz) joins an ultra-violent gang in the capital to avenge the death of her brother. But she falls under the spell of the one she came to eliminate.

Romain Quirot writes a melodrama, the flagship genre of early cinema to which the era of film corresponds. It is a pretext to explore the world of the Apaches, these gangs of criminals renowned for their violence, settled in the north-east of Paris and who scoured the streets of the capital at the turn of the century. apache has the advantage of reconstructing the bohemian districts of the Belle Epoque. Small and big strikes, prostitutes, pimps and colorful customers haunt the cabarets and Montmartre slums, offering a beautiful fauna to bring to life on screen.

violent melody

Romain Quirot pulls the strings of a revenge scenario that turns into romance, without being stingy with violence. The edged weapon, the knife or the dagger, even the axe, being the favorite tool of the Apaches, the vermilion regularly splashes the canvas. Alice Isaaz, seen in The Colors of Fire, is a wise choice, as it sticks to the time. Between ingenue and leading woman, she infiltrates this shady world, but coming to fight it, she will integrate it. Beautiful guest stars accompany him: Dominique Pinon, Artus, Bruno Lochet or Rosy de Palma in Sarah Bernarhdt.

The melody perhaps takes too much over the environment described, the real subject of the film. A less formal and expected plot could have served a painting closer to reality where a new urbanity, an unprecedented violence, intertwine, against a background of political anarchy. Romain Quirot has chosen an honorable genre film with a neat reconstruction, made to entertain, and remind us of the good memories of these Apaches who made the front page of the press and are somewhat forgotten today.

The sheet

Gender : historical thriller
Director: Romain Quirot
Actors: Alice Isaaz, Malik Frikah, Niels Schneider, Artus, Dominique Pinon, Bruno Lochet, Rossy de Palma
Country : France
Duration : 1h35
Exit : March 29, 2022
Distributer : Tandem Movies