Film: On Tour
Year of production: 2010
UK Release date: 25th April 2011
Distributor: Artificial Eye
Certificate: 15
Running time: 111 mins
Director: Mathieu Amalric
Starring: Miranda Colclasure, Suzanne Ramsey, Dirty Martini, Julie Atlas Muz, Angela de Lorenzo
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Format: DVD
Country of Production: France
Language: French/English
Review by: Katy Stewart
Mathieu Amalric, best-known as an actor, has earned both critical acclaim and box office success (The Diving Bell And The Butterfly, The Quantum Of Solace). Adding directing and writing to his talents, On Tour is the quirky result of his collaboration with a troupe of New Burlesque performers.
Joachim (Amalric) is a failed Parisian TV producer who abandons his former life and takes off to America, where he meets a group of Burlesque dancers. Seeing a new opportunity, he brings them back to France and arranges for them to tour the country, introducing a French audience to their bold ‘New Burlesque’ routine.
The girls are supremely confident, cutting through language and cultural barriers in a flurry of feather boas and titillating performances. They are proud of their show – Mimi le Meaux (Miranda Colclasure) describes it as “Burlesque by women, for women” – and they refuse to let Joachim suggest changes.
He puts up with the girls’ wilful nature, the crummy hotels and the endless time on the road in the hope that a big show in Paris will bring him the success he deserves. However, when he is let down by a friend and unable to get a venue in Paris, his hopes begin to unravel. The girls continue to perform, undaunted, in ever-more provincial and dreary towns, but Joachim is often elsewhere as he tries to sort out his own messy personal life…
If there’s one thing this film lacks, it’s a definite plot. It is a pretty accurate representation of what one imagines life must be like on a low-budget tour, but noteworthy events are extremely sparse. Some critics have praised this realistic approach, but it does leave the viewer wondering when something is going to happen. Of course, the greatest storytellers are able to create powerful significance out of the most subtle moments and it seems that is what Amalric is trying to do here. But whether he is pleading with a hotel receptionist to turn off the awful piped music, confronting people from his past, or engaging in a moment of flirting with a gas-station attendant, we are never led to a greater underlying meaning. The viewer simply gets the sense that this man’s life is depressingly empty and meaningless, but it does not make for riveting viewing.
The film is given some life by the performances and by the fact that the girls are real-life burlesque dancers. They are unafraid to bear their voluptuous figures on stage or swear at Joachim in their gritty New York accents, meaning that they bring a delightful authenticity to the film. They are a breath of fresh air – colourful, energetic and bright against the grey backdrop of industrial France. This works very well for the actual performance sequences, but these are sadly fleeting. For the majority of the film, they are off-stage, kind of inverse caricatures of their on-stage personas. Nevertheless, they do provide optimism and positivity; delighting in the modest attractions of the towns they visit in the way only foreigners can.
Unfortunately, as the film progresses, more and more time is given over to Joachim’s parallel storyline, as he catches up with people he used to know and just as quickly moves on again, resolving nothing and revealing very little. Possibly in an attempt to make him a more sympathetic figure, his young sons come into the picture rather randomly and he drags them around on the tour for a bit before packing them back off to their mother. The effect, however, is to render all these encounters more or less pointless. The film may well be trying to present the futility of life, or some other similar philosophical sentiment, but it does not express it eloquently - and it does not keep the viewer interested. Amalric cuts a pitiful figure as the beleaguered producer, but not one that is easy to empathise with.
One aspect of the film that is admirable is the cinematography, which gives the a documentary-style feel, echoing the low-budget tour premise. The theme of incidental, fleeting moments, which does not work in the plot, is actually successful in the visual creation of the film. For example, we see many of the burlesque performances as if watching from the wings, making it even more teasing and tantalizing. Likewise, Amalric focuses upon personal, individual encounters even in regard to the relationship between the performers and the public, which is a much more effective way of showing the reaction of average working people to a risqué new show in town. In this sense, Amalric’s direction is assured and strong, it is just a shame this does not translate to the content.
This is a film which offers a quirky, dynamic cast and a creative take on the burlesque genre. However, it leaves the unsatisfactory feeling that this is a film which could have been so much more, if greater consideration had been given to the plot, or at least providing some point to the many insignificant moments. There is much to admire in individual scenes, but no strong thread holding them together. It almost feels like so much time was spent illustrating one man’s disappointing life and the unglamorous reality of life on tour that any sense of story was forgotten about.
On Tour promises a lot but does not completely deliver. It is worth watching for individually admirable performances and a pleasing lack of cliché, but don’t expect a gripping plot. KS
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