CANNES CLASSICS – Jean-Paul Belmondo: a French James Bond

That Man from Rio (L’homme de Rio) marked Philippe de Broca and Jean-Paul Belmondo’s second collaboration, following the success of Cartouche in 1962. Thanks to the work of TF1 Droits audiovisuels, Cannes Classics is presenting a remastered version of this cult adventure film.

While on leave, private Adrien Duforquet witnesses the kidnapping of his fiancé Agnès, the daughter of a famous ethnologist. He sets off to rescue her, which takes him to Brazil – between Rio and Brasilia- following behind a Brazilian statuette stolen from the Musée de L’Homme in Paris.

The feature film was shot in 1962, at a time when Oscar Niemeyer’s futurist city of Brasilia was still under construction. This surrealist decor helped Philippe de Broca to imagine a unique adventure film, which inspired many other directors, in particular Steven Spielberg who admitted that the film was one of his references for the Indiana Jones saga.

The hero Adrien Duforquet, alias Jean-Paul Belmondo, is a kind of French James Bond. While he may not have a licence to kill, he perfectly captures the blend of courage and humour given to 007. Nonetheless, it was the Aventures of Tintin and the volume The Broken Ear that Philippe de Broca revealed to be his inspiration for writing the script. This gem of 1960s French cinema reunites on screen two charismatic actors of the period: Belmondo and Françoise Dorléac, exquisitely humorous in the role of the fiancée.

That Man from Rio confirms the beginning of a long cinematic friendship between the actor and Philippe de Broca. They would go on to shoot: Tribulations of a Chinaman in China (Les Tribulations d’un Chinois en Chine, 1965), Le Magnifique (1973) and Incorrigible (L’Incorrigible) in 1975.

Lisa Revil

SCREENING
Friday 24th May / Salle du Soixantième / 10.30 p.m.
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