Angela-A (2005)

By: Martyn Pedler
Date: 26th Sep 07
Format: DVD
Mood: Nostalgic

What:
Angela-A (2005)

Where:
Madman "Director's Suite" DVD

When:
Currently available for rental only (until January, when things will be looking up)

Watch the trailer:
here

Did you think that Amelie was good, but too girly? Or wish It's A Wonderful Life starred a supermodel? Were you curious about arthouse classic Wings Of Desire but always - and understandably - fell asleep fifteen minutes in? Meet Luc Besson's Angel-A.

Besson has said that he'll no longer be working as a director, and rewatching masterpieces like Leon and The Fifth Element highlights what a shame that is. Technically, his final film was the kid's adventure Arthur And The Invisibles, but it's not worthy of his strange talents, so we're going to ignore it. (Plus over-rendered CGI makes us feel kinda queasy.)

That makes Angel-A Besson's straight-to-DVD swansong, and while it's not equal to his best, it is a barely 80-minute summation of his work: male fantasy, more-Hollywood-than-Hollywood spectacle, and a sincere, romantic (and, yes, very French) belief that love can save the world.

Luckless loser Andre is contemplating suicide, but finds redemption in the appearance of Angela. Paris has never been filmed so lovingly as it is through Besson's black-and-white sheen, and Angela is so impossibly statuesque, so perfectly cheekboned, she could be superimposed from another filmic reality altogether.