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| name = Vidocq
| name = Vidocq
| image = Vidocq2001.jpg
| image = Vidocq2001.jpg
| caption = Film poster
| caption = Theatrical poster
| director = [[Pitof]]
| director = [[Pitof]]
| producer = [[Dominique Farrugia]]
| producer = [[Dominique Farrugia]]
| writer = {{plainlist|
| writer = {{plainlist|
*[[Pitof]]
*Pitof
*Jean-Christophe Grangé}}
*Jean-Christophe Grangé}}
| based_on = the memoirs of <br> [[Eugène François Vidocq]]
| based_on = The memoirs of <br> [[Eugène François Vidocq]]
| starring = {{plainlist|
| starring = {{plainlist|
*[[Gérard Depardieu]]
*[[Gérard Depardieu]]
Line 22: Line 22:
| editing = Thierry Hoss
| editing = Thierry Hoss
| distributor = [[UGC Fox Distribution]]
| distributor = [[UGC Fox Distribution]]
| released = {{Film date|2001|9|19|France|2001|1|2|United States}}
| released = {{Film date|2001|9|19|France|2007|1|2|United States}}
| runtime = 98 minutes
| runtime = 98 minutes
| country = France
| country = France
Line 29: Line 29:
| gross = $13.2 million<ref name="bom">{{cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/intl/?page=&id=_fVIDOCQ01|title=Vidocq|work=[[Box Office Mojo]]|access-date=19 March 2018}}</ref>
| gross = $13.2 million<ref name="bom">{{cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/intl/?page=&id=_fVIDOCQ01|title=Vidocq|work=[[Box Office Mojo]]|access-date=19 March 2018}}</ref>
}}
}}
'''''Vidocq''''' (North American DVD title: '''''Dark Portals: The Chronicles of Vidocq''''') is a [[2001 in film|2001]] [[mystery film]], directed by [[Pitof]], starring [[Gérard Depardieu]] as historical figure [[Eugène François Vidocq]] pursuing a supernatural serial killer.
'''''Vidocq''''' (North American DVD title: '''''Dark Portals: The Chronicles of Vidocq''''') is a 2001 [[mystery film]], directed by [[Pitof]], starring [[Gérard Depardieu]] as historical figure [[Eugène François Vidocq]] pursuing a supernatural serial killer.


It is notable as being the first major fantasy film to be released that was shot entirely with [[digital cinematography]], using a [[Sony HDW-F900]] [[CineAlta]] camera.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allbusiness.com/services/motion-pictures/4941598-1.html|title=French 'vidocq' A High-definition First|date=February 15, 2000|access-date=2008-09-18|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|author=Charles Masters|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090523161903/http://www.allbusiness.com/services/motion-pictures/4941598-1.html|archive-date=May 23, 2009}}</ref>
It is notable as being the first major fantasy film to be released that was shot entirely with [[digital cinematography]], using a [[Sony HDW-F900]] [[CineAlta]] camera.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allbusiness.com/services/motion-pictures/4941598-1.html|title=French 'vidocq' A High-definition First|date=February 15, 2000|access-date=2008-09-18|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|author=Charles Masters|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090523161903/http://www.allbusiness.com/services/motion-pictures/4941598-1.html|archive-date=May 23, 2009}}</ref> According to the Guinness World Records, ''Vidocq'' is the first full length feature filmed in digital high resolution.<ref>{{Cite web |title=First full length feature filmed in digital high resolution |url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/first-full-length-feature-filmed-in-digital-high-resolutiion |website=Guinness World Records}}</ref>

⚫
The [[Finland|Finnish]] [[cello metal]] band [[Apocalyptica]] used clips from the film in the [[music video]] for their ''[[Cult (Apocalyptica album)|Cult]]'' track, "[[Cult (Apocalyptica album)|Hope Vol. 2]]" with [[Matthias Sayer]] of [[Farmer Boys (band)|Farmer Boys]] providing extra recorded vocals, which served as the film's ending theme.


==Plot==
==Plot==
In 1830 Paris, private investigator Eugène Vidocq pursues a strange man who is wearing a cowl and a mirrored mask. The man lures Vidocq into a furnace room at a glass factory, and after a long fight, pushes him into the furnace. Hanging onto the ledge, Vidocq asks him to reveal his face. The masked man obliges, and Vidocq lets go, falling into the fire.
In 1830 Paris, private investigator Eugène Vidocq pursues the Alchemist, a man wearing a cowl and a mirrored mask. The Alchemist lures Vidocq into a furnace room at a glass factory, and during a fight, pushes him into the furnace. Hanging onto the ledge, Vidocq asks him to reveal his face. The Alchemist obliges, and Vidocq lets go, falling into the fire.


Journalist Étienne Boisset goes to Vidocq's colleague, René Nimier, asking for background to help write Vidocq's biography. Boisset states that he plans to find Vidocq's murderer. Nimier tells him that Lautrennes, Paris' chief of police, asked the pair to investigate the deaths of Belmont and Veraldi, the owners of a cannon factory. Lautrennes believes this is an attempt to undermine the French military in an [[July Revolution|unstable political climate]]. Belmont and Veraldi had died in a lightning strike, but during the investigation, Vidocq and Nimier see the powder on a factory worker's clothes catch fire. They interrogate the servant responsible for maintaining Belmont's and Veraldi's suits, who confesses that he received a letter, with cash, ordering him not to clean their jackets. The investigators realize that the lightning would need to be attracted to the men and find metallic pins, decorated with monkey heads, inserted into their hats.
Journalist Étienne Boisset goes to Vidocq's colleague, René Nimier, asking for help writing Vidocq's biography. Boisset states that he plans to find Vidocq's murderer. Lautrennes, Paris's chief of police, asked Nimier and Vidocq to investigate the deaths of Belmont and Veraldi, the owners of a cannon factory. Lautrennes believed this had been an attempt to undermine the French military in an [[July Revolution|unstable political climate]]. Belmont and Veraldi had died in a lightning strike, but during the investigation, Vidocq and Nimier saw the powder on a factory worker's clothes catch fire. The servant responsible for maintaining Belmont's and Veraldi's suits confessed to having received a letter, with cash, ordering him not to clean their jackets. Realizing that the lightning would need to be attracted to the men, the investigators found metallic pins inserted into the victims' hats.


Lautrennes orders one of his men, Tauzet, to investigate Vidocq's death. For his part, Boisset sneaks into Nimier's office and retrieves the monkey-head pins. He traces the design to Preah, a dancer in a brothel, and Vidocq's lover. She tells him that Vidocq also tracked her down, and that she told Vidocq that she received a letter, with cash, asking her to put the pins in the hats. She also reveals that the letter included a third target{{spaced ndash}}Ernest Lafitte, owner of an orphanage. Preah says that Vidocq rushed to save Lafitte, but the masked murderer got there first. Vidocq pursued the murderer, who seemed to possess magical powers and a mask made from a strange reflective surface.
Lautrennes orders officer Tauzet to investigate Vidocq's death. Meanwhile, Boisset sneaks into Nimier's office and retrieves the pins. He traces the design to Preah, a dancer in a brothel, and Vidocq's lover. Vidocq also tracked down Preah, who had received a letter, with cash, asking her to put the pins in the hats. The letter included a third target{{spaced ndash}}Ernest Lafitte, owner of an orphanage. Vidocq rushed to save Lafitte, but the Alchemist got there first. Vidocq pursued him, who seemed to possess magical powers.


Boisset's investigation leads him to Sylvia, the brothel manager, a journalist named Froissard who is investigating the masked murderer, and Marine Lafitte, wife of Ernest. They reveal that Lafitte, Belmont and Veraldi were narcissists, committed to preventing death by aging. A man with a mirror mask, called the Alchemist, offered them an elixir of eternal youth in return for their cooperation in capturing young maidens for his experiments. The three rich men went along, but later stopped cooperating due to a sense of guilt, so the Alchemist killed them. After Boisset leaves, the Alchemist arrives, killing Froissard and Marine. Boisset's investigation attracts the attention of Tauzet, who notices that the Alchemist is disposing of witnesses, and fears Boisset is next.
Boisset's investigation leads him to Sylvia, the brothel manager; journalist Froissard, who is investigating the masked murderer; and Marine Lafitte, wife of Ernest. They reveal that Lafitte, Belmont and Veraldi were narcissists, committed to preventing death by aging. The Alchemist offered an elixir of eternal youth in return for their cooperation in capturing young maidens for his experiments. The three rich men went along, but later stopped cooperating due to a sense of guilt, so the Alchemist killed them. After Boisset leaves, the Alchemist arrives, killing Froissard and Marine. Tauzet notices that the Alchemist is disposing of witnesses, and fears Boisset is next.


Boisset sneaks in to retrieve Vidocq's notes, where he encounters Lautrennes and Tauzet. Lautrennes attempts to arrest Boisset, but the journalist escapes. The notes reveal that Vidocq found the Alchemist's lab, where he was using the maidens' blood to create a magic substance for his mask, which grants eternal youth by sucking the souls out of his victims. The Alchemist arrived and attacked Vidocq, who managed to take a piece from the Alchemist's mask before the killer escaped. Vidocq's final note states that the Alchemist would need someone to manufacture the mirrored mask, leading him to the glass factory.
Boisset sneaks in to retrieve Vidocq's notes, and encounters Lautrennes and Tauzet. Lautrennes attempts to arrest Boisset, who escapes. The notes reveal that Vidocq found a lab where the Alchemist was using the maidens' blood to create a substance for his mask, which grants eternal youth by sucking the souls out of his victims. The Alchemist arrived and attacked Vidocq, who took a piece from the former's mask before the killer escaped. Vidocq's final note states that the Alchemist would need someone to manufacture the mask, leading him to the glass factory.


Boisset, Nimier and Preah head to the factory, ushered by an artisan, and closely trailed by both Tauzet and Lautrennes. Just as Boisset declares there are no more leads and witnesses, the artisan removes his prosthetic, revealing himself to be Vidocq. It turns out Vidocq had jumped into a secret hole in the furnace wall, which he saw in the reflection of the mirror mask before the Alchemist's reveal to be Boisset himself. Vidocq then admits to faking his own death simply to let Boisset's guard down, as he knows the Alchemist would destroy all clues and witnesses through any means necessary.
Boisset, Nimier and Preah head to the factory, ushered by an artisan, and trailed by both Tauzet and Lautrennes. The artisan eventually removes his prosthetic, revealing himself to be Vidocq. Vidocq had actually jumped into a secret hole in the furnace wall, which he saw in the mask's reflection before the Alchemist revealed himself to be Boisset. Vidocq faked his own death to let Boisset's guard down, knowing the Alchemist would destroy all clues and witnesses through any means necessary.


With his cover blown, Boisset lets out a monstrous roar and dons the Alchemist's mirror mask. Nimier opens fire, but is killed as the Alchemist magically reflects the bullets back at him. Vidocq pursues the Alchemist into a hall of mirrors, where he forces the Alchemist to look into a mirror shard, freeing all the souls trapped inside the mask. Vidocq impales the Alchemist with a shard of mirror and throws him into a river. Although the others insist the Alchemist is dead, Vidocq is unnerved by the lack of a body.
With his cover blown, Boisset dons the Alchemist's mask. Nimier opens fire, but is killed as the Alchemist magically reflects the bullets back at him. Vidocq pursues the Alchemist into a hall of mirrors and forces him to look into a mirror shard, freeing the souls trapped inside the mask. Vidocq impales the Alchemist with a shard of mirror and throws him into a river. Although the others insist the Alchemist is dead, Vidocq is unnerved by the lack of a body.


At Nimier's funeral, as the characters walk away, the Alchemist's laugh can be heard in the distance, accompanied by the glimmer of his mirror mask.
At Nimier's funeral, as everyone walks away, the Alchemist's laugh can be heard in the distance, accompanied by the glimmer of his mirror mask.


==Cast==
==Cast==
*[[Gérard Depardieu]] as Vidocq
*[[Gérard Depardieu]] as [[Eugène François Vidocq|Vidocq]]
*[[Guillaume Canet]] as Étienne Boisset
*[[Guillaume Canet]] as Étienne Boisset
*[[Inés Sastre]] as Préah
*[[Inés Sastre]] as Préah
Line 69: Line 67:
==Production==
==Production==
{{expand section|date=June 2022}}
{{expand section|date=June 2022}}

===Post production===
The film featured 800 shots modified in post-production over a period of eight months,<ref>{{cite web |url =http://www.cineman.ch/en/movie/2001/Vidocq/review.html |title=Vidocq — Filmreview|access-date=2008-09-18|publisher=Cinergy AG}}</ref> at a cost of over €20 million.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.plume-noire.com/movies/reviews/vidocq.html|title=Vidocq review|access-date=2008-09-18|author=Laurent Ziliani|work=La Plume Noire}}</ref> It was the first feature film to be shot in digital progressive HDTV at 24 fps cinematic framerate (1080p24), one year before ''[[Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0164961/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1|title=Vidocq at Imdb|website=[[IMDb]] }}</ref> A few short scenes, however, were shot using DV format (576i25) for artistic purposes. Only those special effects shots were [[deinterlacing|deinterlaced]] by means of ''smart field blending'' (imitating a [[progressive scan|progressive]]-type amount of [[motion blur]] due to a different [[shutter speed]] of progressive modes) during post-production, as the special effects crew obviously was in demand of progressive frames which are easier to process. Normal shots were in no need of deinterlacing, thanks to progressive scan HD cameras. The result are video-like appearance of motions in DV shots, due to the different amount of motion blur resulting from the different deinterlacing methods, and distinctive film-like motions for the dominant 1080p24 shots otherwise.
The film featured 800 shots modified in post-production over a period of eight months,<ref>{{cite web |url =http://www.cineman.ch/en/movie/2001/Vidocq/review.html |title=Vidocq — Filmreview|access-date=2008-09-18|publisher=Cinergy AG}}</ref> at a cost of over €20 million.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.plume-noire.com/movies/reviews/vidocq.html|title=Vidocq review|access-date=2008-09-18|author=Laurent Ziliani|work=La Plume Noire}}</ref> It was the first feature film to be shot in digital progressive HDTV at 24 fps cinematic framerate (1080p24), one year before ''[[Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0164961/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1|title=Vidocq at Imdb|website=[[IMDb]] }}</ref> A few short scenes, however, were shot using DV format (576i25) for artistic purposes. Only those special effects shots were [[deinterlacing|deinterlaced]] by means of ''smart field blending'' (imitating a [[progressive scan|progressive]]-type amount of [[motion blur]] due to a different [[shutter speed]] of progressive modes) during post-production, as the special effects crew obviously was in demand of progressive frames which are easier to process. Normal shots were in no need of deinterlacing, thanks to progressive scan HD cameras. The result are video-like appearance of motions in DV shots, due to the different amount of motion blur resulting from the different deinterlacing methods, and distinctive film-like motions for the dominant 1080p24 shots otherwise.

⚫
The [[Finland|Finnish]] [[cello metal]] band [[Apocalyptica]] used clips from the film in the [[music video]] for their ''[[Cult (Apocalyptica album)|Cult]]'' track, "[[Cult (Apocalyptica album)|Hope Vol. 2]]" with [[Matthias Sayer]] of [[Farmer Boys (band)|Farmer Boys]] providing extra recorded vocals, which served as the film's ending theme.

==Reception==
''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' said: "“Vidocq” suffers from the same inflated self-importance and almost arbitrary grandeur, whereby a halfway decent premise devolves into borderline idiocy."<ref name="variety">{{cite web |last1=Nesselson |first1=Lisa |title=Reviews - Vidocq |url=https://variety.com/2001/film/reviews/vidocq-1200469731/ |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |publisher=[[Penske Media Corporation]] |access-date=16 July 2024 |date=27 September 2001}}</ref> ''[[TV Guide]]'' wrote: "[...] the film's relentless look-at-me factor constitutes an assault on the senses, if not an entirely unpleasant one."<ref name="TVGuide">{{cite web |title=Vidocq Reviews |url=https://www.tvguide.com/movies/vidocq/review/2030117614/ |website=[[TV Guide]] |publisher=[[Fandom, Inc.]] |access-date=16 July 2024}}</ref>


==See also==
==See also==

Latest revision as of 16:53, 21 July 2024

Vidocq
Theatrical poster
Directed byPitof
Written by
  • Pitof
  • Jean-Christophe Grangé
Based onThe memoirs of
Eugène François Vidocq
Produced byDominique Farrugia
Starring
Cinematography
  • Jean-Pierre Sauvaire
  • Jean-Claude Thibout
Edited byThierry Hoss
Music byBruno Coulais
Distributed byUGC Fox Distribution
Release dates
  • September 19, 2001 (2001-09-19) (France)
  • January 2, 2007 (2007-01-02) (United States)
Running time
98 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench
Budget€23.2 million[1]
($21 million)
Box office$13.2 million[2]

Vidocq (North American DVD title: Dark Portals: The Chronicles of Vidocq) is a 2001 mystery film, directed by Pitof, starring Gérard Depardieu as historical figure Eugène François Vidocq pursuing a supernatural serial killer.

It is notable as being the first major fantasy film to be released that was shot entirely with digital cinematography, using a Sony HDW-F900 CineAlta camera.[3] According to the Guinness World Records, Vidocq is the first full length feature filmed in digital high resolution.[4]

Plot

[edit]

In 1830 Paris, private investigator Eugène Vidocq pursues the Alchemist, a man wearing a cowl and a mirrored mask. The Alchemist lures Vidocq into a furnace room at a glass factory, and during a fight, pushes him into the furnace. Hanging onto the ledge, Vidocq asks him to reveal his face. The Alchemist obliges, and Vidocq lets go, falling into the fire.

Journalist Étienne Boisset goes to Vidocq's colleague, René Nimier, asking for help writing Vidocq's biography. Boisset states that he plans to find Vidocq's murderer. Lautrennes, Paris's chief of police, asked Nimier and Vidocq to investigate the deaths of Belmont and Veraldi, the owners of a cannon factory. Lautrennes believed this had been an attempt to undermine the French military in an unstable political climate. Belmont and Veraldi had died in a lightning strike, but during the investigation, Vidocq and Nimier saw the powder on a factory worker's clothes catch fire. The servant responsible for maintaining Belmont's and Veraldi's suits confessed to having received a letter, with cash, ordering him not to clean their jackets. Realizing that the lightning would need to be attracted to the men, the investigators found metallic pins inserted into the victims' hats.

Lautrennes orders officer Tauzet to investigate Vidocq's death. Meanwhile, Boisset sneaks into Nimier's office and retrieves the pins. He traces the design to Preah, a dancer in a brothel, and Vidocq's lover. Vidocq also tracked down Preah, who had received a letter, with cash, asking her to put the pins in the hats. The letter included a third target – Ernest Lafitte, owner of an orphanage. Vidocq rushed to save Lafitte, but the Alchemist got there first. Vidocq pursued him, who seemed to possess magical powers.

Boisset's investigation leads him to Sylvia, the brothel manager; journalist Froissard, who is investigating the masked murderer; and Marine Lafitte, wife of Ernest. They reveal that Lafitte, Belmont and Veraldi were narcissists, committed to preventing death by aging. The Alchemist offered an elixir of eternal youth in return for their cooperation in capturing young maidens for his experiments. The three rich men went along, but later stopped cooperating due to a sense of guilt, so the Alchemist killed them. After Boisset leaves, the Alchemist arrives, killing Froissard and Marine. Tauzet notices that the Alchemist is disposing of witnesses, and fears Boisset is next.

Boisset sneaks in to retrieve Vidocq's notes, and encounters Lautrennes and Tauzet. Lautrennes attempts to arrest Boisset, who escapes. The notes reveal that Vidocq found a lab where the Alchemist was using the maidens' blood to create a substance for his mask, which grants eternal youth by sucking the souls out of his victims. The Alchemist arrived and attacked Vidocq, who took a piece from the former's mask before the killer escaped. Vidocq's final note states that the Alchemist would need someone to manufacture the mask, leading him to the glass factory.

Boisset, Nimier and Preah head to the factory, ushered by an artisan, and trailed by both Tauzet and Lautrennes. The artisan eventually removes his prosthetic, revealing himself to be Vidocq. Vidocq had actually jumped into a secret hole in the furnace wall, which he saw in the mask's reflection before the Alchemist revealed himself to be Boisset. Vidocq faked his own death to let Boisset's guard down, knowing the Alchemist would destroy all clues and witnesses through any means necessary.

With his cover blown, Boisset dons the Alchemist's mask. Nimier opens fire, but is killed as the Alchemist magically reflects the bullets back at him. Vidocq pursues the Alchemist into a hall of mirrors and forces him to look into a mirror shard, freeing the souls trapped inside the mask. Vidocq impales the Alchemist with a shard of mirror and throws him into a river. Although the others insist the Alchemist is dead, Vidocq is unnerved by the lack of a body.

At Nimier's funeral, as everyone walks away, the Alchemist's laugh can be heard in the distance, accompanied by the glimmer of his mirror mask.

Cast

[edit]

Production

[edit]

The film featured 800 shots modified in post-production over a period of eight months,[5] at a cost of over €20 million.[6] It was the first feature film to be shot in digital progressive HDTV at 24 fps cinematic framerate (1080p24), one year before Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones.[7] A few short scenes, however, were shot using DV format (576i25) for artistic purposes. Only those special effects shots were deinterlaced by means of smart field blending (imitating a progressive-type amount of motion blur due to a different shutter speed of progressive modes) during post-production, as the special effects crew obviously was in demand of progressive frames which are easier to process. Normal shots were in no need of deinterlacing, thanks to progressive scan HD cameras. The result are video-like appearance of motions in DV shots, due to the different amount of motion blur resulting from the different deinterlacing methods, and distinctive film-like motions for the dominant 1080p24 shots otherwise.

The Finnish cello metal band Apocalyptica used clips from the film in the music video for their Cult track, "Hope Vol. 2" with Matthias Sayer of Farmer Boys providing extra recorded vocals, which served as the film's ending theme.

Reception

[edit]

Variety said: "“Vidocq” suffers from the same inflated self-importance and almost arbitrary grandeur, whereby a halfway decent premise devolves into borderline idiocy."[8] TV Guide wrote: "[...] the film's relentless look-at-me factor constitutes an assault on the senses, if not an entirely unpleasant one."[9]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Vidocq (2001)". JP's Box-Office. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  2. ^ "Vidocq". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  3. ^ Charles Masters (February 15, 2000). "French 'vidocq' A High-definition First". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 23, 2009. Retrieved 2008-09-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. ^ "First full length feature filmed in digital high resolution". Guinness World Records.
  5. ^ "Vidocq — Filmreview". Cinergy AG. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
  6. ^ Laurent Ziliani. "Vidocq review". La Plume Noire. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
  7. ^ "Vidocq at Imdb". IMDb.
  8. ^ Nesselson, Lisa (27 September 2001). "Reviews - Vidocq". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
  9. ^ "Vidocq Reviews". TV Guide. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
[edit]
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