Madame Edouard is the first full-length film
from successful Belgian writer Nadine Monfils, an inspired adaptation of the first in
her series of popular crime novels featuring the unconventional detective Léon.
The film's strength lies not in its plot - which is pretty thin and unconvincing - but
in its extraordinary array of characters. These include an overly temperamental
chef, a widow with the most appalling taste in interior design, another widow with a dwarf
fetish, a sympathetic middle-aged transvestite, a priest with a flair for innovation,
a police secretary who looks like what you might see whilst experimenting with LSD, a
pathologist who enjoys his work far too much, and, to cap it all, a police inspector who
would rather be knitting a coat for his dog than investigating murders. It's
this cavalcade of grotesques, brought to life by a top-notch cast that makes Madame
Edouard such a sumptuous black comedy. There are also some touches of genuine
human feeling (Irma meeting her/his daughter), but these are largely overshadowed by a
seemingly relentless barrage of outrageously off-the-wall comedy. The film is unsettling
in its juxtaposition of the ordinary and the macabre but it is also hugely enjoyable.
Wouldn't it be great if Nadine Monfils were to adapt some more of her novels in a similar
vein - providing Michel Blanc and Josiane Basako were hired to play Commissaire Léon
and his “couldn't be arsed” secretary.
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Film Synopsis
A bizarre series of murders in Brussels disturbs the peace of Commissaire Léon,
who would rather be getting on and doing some knitting. It's bad enough that he
lives with his mother, a woman whose idea of good taste is a leopard-skin covered cooking
pot, and has a secretary who spends more time buying novelty earrings than doing any work.
However, duty calls, so Léon starts his investigation, aided by his timid assistant
Bornéo and troublesome dog Babelutte. Each of the murder victims is a young
woman, found on a grave in a cemetery, with the right hand severed. Léon's
hunt for the killer brings him to the bar “A la mort subite”, where one of the dead women
rented a room. Another tenant of the hostelry is Irma, a transvestite formerly known
as Edouard, who has just learnt that she/he has a daughter - a fact that his estranged
wife has kept from him/her for 20 years. Within hours of Irma meeting his/her daughter,
the latter disappears. The serial killer appears to have claimed another victim…
Cast:Michel Blanc (Commissaire Léon),
Didier Bourdon (Irma),
Dominique Lavanant (Rose),
Annie Cordy (Ginette),
Josiane Balasko (Nina Tchitchi),
Rufus (Valdès, l'homme à l'oiseau),
Andréa Ferréol (La bouchère),
Olivier Broche (Bornéo),
Raphaël Dewaerseghers (Le gardien du cimetière),
Philippe Grand'Henry (Jeannot),
Bouli Lanners (Gégé),
Jean-Yves Tual (Le pin's),
François Aubineau (Le curé),
Suzy Falk (La dame au chapeau),
Julie-Anne Roth (Marie),
Fabienne Chaudat (Mimi),
Gérard Pinter (Le légiste),
Stefan Liberski (Le concierge de Carine),
Franck Sasonoff (L'aveugle),
Jean-Luc Fonck (Plastic de Charleroi)
Country: France / Belgium / Luxembourg
Language: French
Support: Color
Runtime: 97 min
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