| Avida | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | |
| Written by |
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| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Hugues Poulain |
| Edited by | Stéphane Elmadjian |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Ad Vitam |
Release dates |
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Running time | 83 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
Avida is a 2006 French surrealist black comedy film written and directed by Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern.[1]
Plot
A deaf-mute and two ketamine addicts employed at a family zoo try to carry out a plot to kidnap an obese billionaire's dog.[2]
Cast
- Gustave Kervern as Le captif sourd muet
- Velvet as Avida
- Martin as Le drogué avide
- Benoît Delépine as L'homme à la tête de scotch
- Fernando Arrabal as Le Picador suicidaire
- Jean-Claude Carrière as Le riche paranoïaque
- Kati Outinen as La femme à la bombonne d'eau
- Remo Forlani as L'inquiétant directeur
- Stéphane Sanseverino as Le captif chantant
- Bouli Lanners as Le patron du zoo
- Rokia Traoré as La chanteuse bienveillante
- Claude Chabrol as Le zoophile débonnaire
- Albert Dupontel as Le garde du corps maladroit
- Philippe Vuillemin as Le taxidermiste incompris
- Anselme as Le chanteur de faïence
- Rémy Kolpa Kopoul as Le petit homme au traîneau
- Robert Dehoux as L'amore qui parle
- Christophe Salengro as Le guide chancelant
Production
The film was shot in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region between 25 July and 20 August 2005.[3] The zoo scenes were shot at the zoo of the French commune of Maubeuge.[4]
The film is a tribute to the surrealist artist Salvador Dalí. The film's title is an allusion to ávida dollars ("eager for dollars"), which is an anagram of Salvador Dalí. The anagram was coined by the surrealist theorist André Breton, who used it to document Dalí's increasing celebrity status in the United States. The derisive nickname was used by Dali's contemporaries as an implication of commercialism by abandoning surrealism in favour of fame and money.[5][6][7] At the end of the film, a hand holds a watch in front of the camera so that it obscures the billionaire's face. The final scene features a painting reminiscent of Salvador Dalí and is the only scene in color.
Release
Avida was included in the official selection of the 59th Cannes Film Festival, where it was screened out of competition on 21 May 2006.[8] It was theatrically released on 13 September 2006 by Ad Vitam Distribution.[9]
Reception
Box office
In France, the film sold 1,220 admissions on its first day. It went on to sell 6,982 admissions in its opening weekend. At the end of its theatrical run, the film sold a total of 22,827 admissions.[10]
Critical response
Avida received an average rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars on the French website AlloCiné, based on 19 reviews.[11]
Variety's Deborah Young wrote: "Somewhere between Monty Python, Jacques Tati and a slideshow of New Yorker cartoons, this critique of life's cruel inconsistency confirms the French co-directors' gift for reinterpreting surrealism in a humorously modern key."[2]
References
- ↑ "Comédie noire. Très loin de Groland". ladepeche.fr.
- 1 2 Young, Deborah (21 May 2006). "Avida". Variety. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
- ↑ "Benoît Delépine et Gustave Kervern remettent ça !". CinéSérie. 20 July 2005.
- ↑ "Les secrets de tournage du film Avida" – via www.allocine.fr.
- ↑ vgl. spiegel.de, retrieved on 24 September 2011.
- ↑ vgl. kunstwissen.de, retrieved on 24 September 2011.
- ↑ Jones, Jonathan (23 September 2013). "Salvador Dalí's surreal dalliance with Nazism" – via The Guardian.
- ↑ "Avida au sommet de l'absurde". Cineuropa - le meilleur du cinéma européen. 20 May 2006.
- ↑ "Avida – Ad Vitam".
- ↑ "Avida (2006)". JP Box-Office (in French). Retrieved 27 November 2023.
- ↑ "Critiques Presse pour le film Avida". AlloCiné (in French). Retrieved 26 November 2023.