Augustine, kung fu king
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Augustine, kung fu king |
| Original title | Augustine, roi you kung fu |
| Country of production | France , Spain |
| original language | French |
| Publishing year | 1999 |
| length | 89 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Anne Fontaine |
| script | Anne Fontaine, Jacques Fieschi , Gilles Taurand |
| production |
Philippe Carcassonne , Alain Sarde |
| music |
Philippe Carcassonne , Olivier Lebé |
| camera | Christophe Pollock |
| cut | Luc Barnier |
| occupation | |
| |
Augustin, Kung-Fu-König (Original title: Augustin, roi du Kung-fu ) is a French - Spanish comedy film directed by Anne Fontaine from 1999.
action
The clumsy Augustin Don Santos earns his living as an extra in various film productions. His acting talent is only less developed, but this does not prevent him from giving acting tips to the French cinema star Fanny Ardant during a shoot.
He's actually dreaming of a film career as a Kung Fu star à la Jackie Chan . At first he only practices the sport in his living room, where he regularly listens to tape recordings of Kung Fu films. To properly learn the martial art, he wants to travel to China . Since he didn't have enough money for such a trip, he ended up in the Chinese quarter of Paris , where he looked for a kung fu teacher and stayed in a Chinese hour hotel. He found work in a shop nearby, where he made friends with the older salesman René.
Already during the first Kung Fu training Augustin realized that his pathological fear of physical contact stood in the way of his dream. To overcome his phobia, he went to the Chinese acupuncturist Ling, with whom he promptly fell in love. However, his newfound sensations collide with his fear of closeness and touch, which is why he runs away during an acupuncture session. Augustin and Ling meet again at a local karaoke event. As they dance together, Augustine suddenly collapses. After he is released from the hospital, he moves in with René.
Ling has also developed feelings for Augustine in the meantime. When Augustin sees her crying in the arms of her French teacher, Augustin misunderstands the situation and decides to leave France and move to China. After a few years, Ling, who has meanwhile married someone else, meets René and asks him about Augustin. He settled in in China and got married too. His son diligently practices kung fu, which makes Augustin extremely proud.
background
Augustin, Kung-Fu-König is the sequel to Anne Fontaine's short film Augustin from 1995, in which her brother Jean-Chrétien Sibertin-Blanc had already played the title role. Leading actress Maggie Cheung , who is a big star in China, learned French especially for her role , while the French film stars Fanny Ardant and André Dussollier and the director Pascal Bonitzer agreed to take on small guest roles as themselves. The film was shot in the 13th arrondissement , the Chinese quarter of Paris.
Augustin, Kung Fu King premiered in France on August 25, 1999 and also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 14, 1999 . In Germany, the film was first shown on television by arte on June 30, 2003 .
Reviews
Lisa Nesselson from Variety described Augustin, the kung fu king, as a "lovingly played and inventively filmed little gem". Hong Kong star Maggie Cheung is "outstanding as an acupuncturist" and Darry Cowl gives his role "a moving mixture of experience and youthful energy". Jean-Chrétien Sibertin-Blanc's “reserved, quirky charm” again makes “Augustin's emotional awakening and his sudden discovery of longing and heartbreak particularly delicious”.
According to Prisma , Anne Fontaine "in her second feature film after A Clean Affair (1997) sensitively told the story of an outsider". In doing so, she took the time to “develop her characters” and “despite mostly comical situations” did not do without “sad moments”. Instead of a “happy ending”, the audience is presented with “an extremely original ending”. For Cinema it was a "funny continuation of the short film Augustin ". As such, she has “lengths, but also a lot of disarming charm and beautiful images”. The fact that “Action Lapstick” meets “Melancholy” in the film is “charming”.
Web links
- Augustin, kung fu king in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Augustin, Kung Fu King on filmsdefrance.com (English)
- Pictures of the film on cinema.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ cf. telerama.fr ( Memento of September 9, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ “ Augustin King of Kung Fu is a tenderly played and inventively lensed little gem. [...] Hong Kong star Cheung is excellent as the acupuncturist and cowl nails a touching mixture of experience and youthful energy in the role of Rene. Sibertin-Blanc's reserved oddball charm makes Augustin's emotional awakening and sudden discovery of longing and heartache especially rich. " Lisa Nesselson: Augustin, King of Kung-Fu . In: Variety , December 14, 1999.
- ↑ cf. prisma.de
- ↑ cf. cinema.de