Yves Montand was a French film star of the black and white era. Isabelle Adjani has been the French film star of the colored era.This is for the first time that they have starred together. The result is a shocker.Both of them shine wonderfully well in a film about gambling house.The views around Lac Leman in Switzerland are nice.The unique thing about this film is that although it is an entertainer it has not neglected the message related to family values.This is a very unique role for Yves Montand as he has always played lover boy roles for the most part of his career.In this film he plays a father who is mostly away from home for some secret work. It is revealed through various twists and turns of the plot that he wants to make a casino.This is a good film for people wishing to watch a film with their family. Admirers of author cinema will be a little disappointed as Rappeneau touch is not same as that of other authors.
6 Reviews
father and daughter
dromasca2 December 2021
'Tout feu tout flamme' (1982) is one of only eight films directed in his career by Jean-Paul Rappeneau, an interesting but not very prolific French film director. This is one of his least appreciated films today, although at the time of its release on screens it enjoyed good publicity and the presence in the cast of two formidable actors: Yves Montand whose career already had gathered three decades and Isabelle Adjani at her peak, shining and beautiful. In fact, the two actors support this film and if the movie is worth seeing today it's because of them. In their absence, we would have been left with a mediocre and not very funny movie.
The heroine of the film is Pauline Valance (Isabelle Adjani), a beautiful and brilliantly intelligent young woman, the expert assistant of the Minister of Finance. She spends her days in international conferences at the highest level, the evenings she returns home where she takes care of her two younger sisters, teenagers, and her grandmother, the owner of a Parisian building. Suddenly the father (Yves Montand) reappears in their life, many years after having left his family (his wife is apparently dead) to do dubious business with casinos in the Bahamas and Canada. We will soon find out that the exuberant and charming father returned not only because of the longing of the family, but also to seize the property, sell it and use it as a source of financing another dubious business with a casino, this time on on the shores of Lake Geneva, between France and Switzerland. How much is scam and how much is paternal feeling in the person and the actions of the character?
'Tout feu tout flamme' suffers from the syndrome of films that try to attract viewers of several film genres without deciding exactly where it belongs. It's often a recipe for failure, and that's exactly what happens here. The film begins as a family comedy, continues as a film about father-daughter relationships, to become in its second part an action comedy with a touch of political satire. It doesn't do very well in any of these categories. What makes the film interesting even almost 40 years after its release on screens is the charismatic presence of Yves Montand, who conquers not only the hearts of those around him on screen, but also those of the audience in the room, manages to convince both when he loves and acts melodrama, and as a bonus, he even sings. Besides him, Isabelle Adjani seems less convincing than usual, the comedy scenes in particular are thickened without much effect. Singer Alain Souchon also appears in a supporting role. He has an interesting physiognomy, but unfortunately his role was too thin. All those who miss Yves Montand, who is in this film at the age of maturity but in best physical and artistic form, must see this film. For the rest of the spectators, watching is optional.
The heroine of the film is Pauline Valance (Isabelle Adjani), a beautiful and brilliantly intelligent young woman, the expert assistant of the Minister of Finance. She spends her days in international conferences at the highest level, the evenings she returns home where she takes care of her two younger sisters, teenagers, and her grandmother, the owner of a Parisian building. Suddenly the father (Yves Montand) reappears in their life, many years after having left his family (his wife is apparently dead) to do dubious business with casinos in the Bahamas and Canada. We will soon find out that the exuberant and charming father returned not only because of the longing of the family, but also to seize the property, sell it and use it as a source of financing another dubious business with a casino, this time on on the shores of Lake Geneva, between France and Switzerland. How much is scam and how much is paternal feeling in the person and the actions of the character?
'Tout feu tout flamme' suffers from the syndrome of films that try to attract viewers of several film genres without deciding exactly where it belongs. It's often a recipe for failure, and that's exactly what happens here. The film begins as a family comedy, continues as a film about father-daughter relationships, to become in its second part an action comedy with a touch of political satire. It doesn't do very well in any of these categories. What makes the film interesting even almost 40 years after its release on screens is the charismatic presence of Yves Montand, who conquers not only the hearts of those around him on screen, but also those of the audience in the room, manages to convince both when he loves and acts melodrama, and as a bonus, he even sings. Besides him, Isabelle Adjani seems less convincing than usual, the comedy scenes in particular are thickened without much effect. Singer Alain Souchon also appears in a supporting role. He has an interesting physiognomy, but unfortunately his role was too thin. All those who miss Yves Montand, who is in this film at the age of maturity but in best physical and artistic form, must see this film. For the rest of the spectators, watching is optional.
Only Montand-Adjani pairing
bob99816 November 2006
I will eventually manage to write about all Rappeneau's films; I think he is the finest director of comedy the French cinema has had in modern times (and it is a crowded field: just think of Yves Robert, Claude Berri, Molinaro, Francis Veber...) Tout feu, tout flamme dates from 1981, a period when Isabelle Adjani could seemingly do no wrong, and she is terrific here: she is sometimes required to do very fast line readings, often at the very edge of comprehension by the viewer, and it all works so well.
Montand was always good playing a man with a good nature who is forced by fate or circumstances to live on the edge of criminality. Here, his history of bad business deals has forced him to leave his family in France for a few years, then to return with grandiose plans for a casino on Lake Geneva. Lauren Hutton as his mistress shows a capable hand at comedy, and Alain Souchon is good as Adjani's love interest. A pity this was the only pairing of Montand and Adjani.
Montand was always good playing a man with a good nature who is forced by fate or circumstances to live on the edge of criminality. Here, his history of bad business deals has forced him to leave his family in France for a few years, then to return with grandiose plans for a casino on Lake Geneva. Lauren Hutton as his mistress shows a capable hand at comedy, and Alain Souchon is good as Adjani's love interest. A pity this was the only pairing of Montand and Adjani.
Wheel Of Fire
writers_reign21 February 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Though he does have three daughters it may be stretching things to compare Yves Montand to King Lear, for one thing the Cordelia counterpart would be the eldest, Isabelle Adjani, and not the youngest and though they come close neither father nor daughter actually dies so that Lear's great speech "thou art a soul in bliss, but I am bound upon a wheel of fire, which mine own tears do scald like molten lead" doesn't really apply. On the other hand the itinerant charmer/loser Montand does entertain plans to turn the old homestead into a casino so 'wheel' gets under the wire as does 'fire' which is in the title. Sue me, already. Jean-Paul Rappeneau's CV is sparse but choice. His seven full length features have garnered no less than nine Cesar Best Acting nominations and one third of those have gone home with the gong. Prior to becoming a hyphenate (Writer-Director) he wrote the screenplays for Zazie Dans le metro and L'Homme du Rio and his writer-director credits include Cyrano de Bergerac, Le Hussard sur le toit and Bon Voyage. He worked twice with the two leads here - Le Sauvage with Montand and Bon Voyage with Adjani - but this was the only time they starred together. If you have even a slight aversion to Montand you may find his charm a little too hard to take but then again no one DOES charm as well as Montand and if you like it you'll love it. This time around he needs all the charm he can get as the eternal dreamer whose constant pursuit of the big score leaves his family relying on eldest daughter Adjani to stay ahead of the game. Luckily she has a good job as an interpreter and just when we have established her twin roles Montand turns up like the proverbial bad penny, effortlessly charming the rest of the family via song and presents (did I say that no one SINGS like Montand, either), leaving Adjani to provide the conflict. This time he has a new scheme, to convert the family's second home, beside Lake Geneva, into a casino. This involves getting into bed with some dodgy characters, chases, gun-play and father-daughter bonding. The result is a feel-good, professional package that every Montand fan will want to see and/or own.
For Yves Montand fans only...
dbdumonteil6 November 2005
....the others can take to their heels.Yves Montand overacts in such a smug way he is thoroughly unbearable.The screenplay is very thin and boring and the lines are devoid of wit (maybe someone like Henri Jeanson could have enlivened things a bit) .Isabelle Adjani portrays a student of the prestigious ecole polytechnique -think that it was 1972 before a woman could enter this school!-who takes care of her family,since her father (Montand) has got so many plans it always leads him to nowhere .Singer Alain Souchon plays a journalist,Quentin,in love with Adjani.He does not add anything,since his field is singing and he does not sing.
"All fire and fury" the title reads,describing Montand's character.It's wishful thinking.
"All fire and fury" the title reads,describing Montand's character.It's wishful thinking.
easy comedy
Kirpianuscus28 November 2021
A very easy French comedy attractive for actors and not for more. A father, not very implicated in the life of his daughters, a lovely grandmother, a casino and the bad guys. Good point Swiss landscape and thin reference to fatherhood. In essence, nothing and a painful end for its high unrealism.
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