Vipère au poing (2004) Reviews

• An enjoyable film

  bruno-m-lagrange2004-10-10

  Vipère au poing is a french novel telling the childhood of the author Hervé Bazin. As a young boy, Bazin was confronted with his mother who was a tyrant. She had imposed a very tough way of life in the family manor. For instance, during the winter, she had forbidden any heater in the bedrooms of her children. She was finally nicknamed by them "Follcoche" for Folle (mad) and Cochonne (pig). In 1971, a first film from the book had been shot for TV with Alice Sapritch playing the mother. At this time, the french viewers had been impressed by her acting. Thirty years later, there is this new adaptation by Philippe de Broca. If you forget Alice Sapritch and equally the book, you can be enjoyed by the movie. Admittedly, there are some flaws in the Broca film. You can discuss the acting or you can find the voice off unpleasant. But this film is nice, it's enjoyable to see it. And it is not boring at any moment. It's too rare in the french cinema nowadays, not to be underlined.

• A Snake of One's Own ...

  writers_reign2004-12-26

  ... or Every Home Should Have One, with apologies to John Steinbeck whose short story had nothing whatsoever to do with the autobiography of Herve Bazin which is the basis for this fine film. Catherine Frot is cast against type as the mother from hell and at times, especially when shot in extreme close up she actually contrives to LOOK like a snake. If, as I did, you see Frot in Les Soeurs Fachees, within twenty four hours you can't help marveling at her range but more of that when I get to The Angry Sisters. In his formative years Bazin lived with his grandmother because his parents were in Indo China and the film kicks off as the grandmother does and the parents return to France to take care of their two sons. Frot's complete lack of maternal instinct has to be seen to be believed as do her Draconian measures - no heat in the boy's bedroom in winter is only the beginning. It's tempting and easy to think that Frot based her characterization on Margaret Thatcher, there is the same coldness, the same aloof autocracy and it was Thatcher, of course, in her role as Minister for Education who famously discontinued the free school milk that children had enjoyed for years, earning her the well-deserved sobriquet Thatcher The Milk Snatcher. Jacques Villeret, also cast against type offers sterling support as the milquetoast husband but it is young Jules Sitruk, so good in Monsieur Batignole, who weighs in with a wonderfully assured performance as the rebellious son. It's difficult to find fault with anything from the acting to the attention to detail in the period setting. One to see again.

• Incredibly evil mother

  Red-1252005-04-16

  Vipère au poing (2004) (Viper in the Fist) was co-scripted and directed by Philippe de Broca. The story is based on a novel by Hervé Bazin. I saw this movie at the 2005 Cinefranco Film Festival in Toronto. (www.cinefranco.com) Jean and Freddie are growing up in a château, under the loving care of their paternal grandmother. When she dies, their father returns from Vietnam with their mother and their young brother. Within minutes, their mother displays her true colors, and within days she's made their life hell. Catherine Frot plays Paule Rézeau, who in a fairy tale would be the evil stepmother. Unfortunately, she's their biological mother, who totally dominates the boys, their father (played well by the late Jacques Villeret), and the entire household. The chilling nature of this film stems not only from from maternal hatred, but from the fact that the boys are obviously good kids. They are prepared to love their mother and their brother, and to behave in an acceptable--even admirable--fashion. Unfortunately, their situation leaves no room for maternal-child affection. What develops is open warfare on the mother's side, and guerrilla warfare on the part of the boys. The middle brother, Jean (Jules Sitruk) is particularly dedicated to opposing his mother's tyranny, and he's very good at it. The movie has scenes that are humorous, and some warm and touching moments between father and sons, but the basic tone is dark and menacing. It's not a warm movie that will leave you with a glow of contentment, but it's well written, directed, and acted, and definitely worth seeing.

• Folcoche comes back

  dbdumonteil2006-11-12

  A good (but not great) adaptation of André Bazin's autobiographic novel which I urge all the users who saw the movie to read.Philippe de Broca does not feel at home in this gloomy story ,he who shines in comedies or adventures yarn ("Cartouche" "L'homme de Rio" ).And the made-for-TV version is imprinted in my memory as it must be in any French's.It had the definitive Folcoche (Folcoche= Folle Cochonne= Mad Swine):Alice Sapricht was so terrifying that any actress who would take on the part would be fatally compared to her.Catherine Frot does an okay job,but Folcoche was ,is and will always be Alice Sapricht whose ugliness worked wonders.On the other hand,I'm pleased to see that one of the late Villeret's last parts was worthwhile, a thousand miles from the obnoxious "Iznogood" .Good performances also come from English Cherie Lunghi ,Pszoniak and Paul Le Person. In the French literature ,"Vipère au Poing" recalls "Poil de Carotte".These two books feature the most terrifying mothers who ever were.And they were not invented.Both Bazin's and Jules Renard' moms were respectively Folcoche and Madame Lepic !

• Catherine Frot is absolutely marvelous!

  JohnHowardReid2011-10-29

  I went to a great deal of trouble to purchase "Viper in the Fist" for one reason only. I'm a great fan of Philippe de Broca. To my astonishment, this wonderful movie far surpassed my expectations. I was aware, of course, from the credits that the screenplay was based on an autobiographical novel concerning three young boys who had a particularly cruel mother. This viper-in-the-midst made Cinderella's stepmother seem like a fairy princess. I have never in all my life seen such a cruel woman. She was really vicious. Not only did she assault her children physically, but she hired other people (particularly a vicious priest) to assault them as well. She would even injure herself and then falsely claim she was actually injured by one of the boys. In a really terrifying scene, she took the boys to a hideous prison and threatened to have them incarcerated. But that was the least of her cruel measures. The ways and means by which she would undermine the young boys psychologically and belittle them were absolutely hair-raising. Anyway, here is the really incredible thing. Gradually, very gradually, due entirely to the magnificent performance of Catherine Frot who plays the chillingly vicious, cold-hearted woman, we begin to feel an empathy for her. Everyone hates her, naturally (except for her somewhat feeble-hearted husband, plus a succession of stupid, worldly-minded priests drawn from a book in which the original author's anti-Catholic bias is all too apparent). As I say, due entirely to Frot's performance, although she doesn't relax in her viciousness one iota – in fact she gets worse as the film progresses – I began to feel sorry for her. I cried when she died. Frot's characterization is certainly the greatest piece of acting I've ever seen on the screen – or stage either. Perhaps I should not have been surprised that this magnificent movie copped so many unfavorable reviews. Just about all the angry comments stemmed from either the changes that director Philippe de Broca and producer Olga Vincent made in their screenplay or the more charitable or less scathing interpretation of Madame Hervé-Bazin by the remarkably skillful Catherine Frot. Most of these critics compared this film unfavorably with the 1970 TV version, made with Bazin's approval. But these critics all seem to miss the point. De Brocca is not seeking comparisons. He is simply using the novel as a point of departure for an engrossing movie, pervaded with the fascinating (if terrifying) atmosphere, the viewpoints and long-extinct class distinctions, which were all bound up in the sights and sounds of the 1920s. An auteur should be judged by what he puts on the screen, not for his fidelity (or otherwise) to his source material.