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Set in 1999, a woman (Dommartin) has a car accident with some bank robbers, who befriend and enlist her help to take the money to a drop in Paris. |
Originally released with a pioneering stereo soundtrack, Abel Gance's politically dubious conflagration movie was an undeniably ambitious project. Yet the experiment clearly failed, and not just because the producers re-edited the footage without Gance's consent. Essentially it's DeMille meets the Comet, with civilisation descending into increasingly sordid debauchery as the natural order is shattered by a series of spectacular disasters. Meanwhile, away from the chaos, scientist Victor Francen strives to find a way to deflect the approaching projectile, while his eccentric brother (Gance himself) spreads a penitential message that's both messianic and fascistic. It's attention-grabbing fare, but deeply imperfect.
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Halliwell's Film Guide
Rambling, often confusing, sometimes boring road movie with moments of brilliance.