Direction:
Claude Ziddi
Starring:
Christian Clavier, Gerard Depardieu,
Roberto Benigni, Laetitia Casta
The
Film: Lovers of the popular comic
books Asterix and Obelix have the chance
to watch their favourite characters
on the big screen. Claude Berri has
produced a great movie on them directed
by Claude Ziddi, the Spielberg of France.
One of his best films was the Crazy
Boys.
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Christian
Clavier as Asterix and Gerard
Depardieu as Obelix
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When
he decided to produce a film on the
subject on his son's demand, most difficult
part was choosing the cast. The actors
he wanted were not easy too come by.
Gerard Depardieu and Christian Clavier,
being big stars, were always found busy
with shooting for Hollywood films. And
imagine Roberto Benigni, whom he wanted
to play Detritus, saying 'no' for almost
eight months before finally finding
time to do the role. At the time he
was busy with Life is Beautiful.
The
story of Asterix and Obelix vs Caesar
is placed in 50 BC, when Gaul was occupied
by Caesar's Roman armies. But a small
village, somewhere in Brittany, defied
the Romans. Asterix and Obelix were
the natural leaders in this resistance.
Incidentally, the first comic book on
the story of this village and its heroes
was published in 1959, and a whole series
appeared thereafter as the books grew
in popularity. The first film was produced
in 1976, but flopped. In 1985, an animated
film called Ceasar's Surprise was released.
Claude Berri started toying with the
idea of making a film on the story in
1993 and shooting began five years later
on June 26, 1998.
The
film cost $ 48 million, the highest
amount ever spent on a film in France.
Sixty actors and 61 animals worked for
the film.
The
film's most attractive feature is, of
course, the special effects. The depiction
of the effects of the magic potion Asterix
and Obelix take before they fight the
enemy, that is, the Romans, is quite
amusing. The scenes of their taking
the potion and becoming super-humans
amaze the young audience. Much more
interesting is the other potion that
duplicates a person into as many as
one wants, something similar to the
idea of cloning.
Period
sets and ambience make the scenes very
authentic-looking. Costumes add to the
realistic touch. But the irony of the
situation, when a mighty Roman emperor
and his soldiers lose out to simple
unarmed villagers, is not lost on us.
The
film, originally in French, is one of
the few to be dubbed in English. For
the Indian market, the distributors
have also produced Hindi and Tamil versions.
