The Prince of the Pacific (Review)/(Movie Review)

THE PRINCE OF THE PACIFIC
(Review) / (Movie Review)

(LE PRINCE DU PACIFIQUE)

(FRANCE)

A UFD release of an Ice3/TF1 Films Prod./MATE Prod. production, with participation of TPS Cinema. (International sales: TF1 Intl., Paris.) Produced by Louis Becker. Executive producer, Thierry Lhermitte.

Directed by Alain Corneau. Screenplay, Christian Biegalski, Laurent Chalumeau, Lucie Etxebarria, Eric Sterling Collins, Corneau, Pierre Geller, Thierry Lhermitte. Camera (color, widescreen), Patrick Blossier; editor, Marie-Joseph Yoyotte; music, Deep Forest; art director, Jean-Marc Kerdelhue; costume designer, Corinne Jorry; sound (Dolby), Pierre Gamet, Laurent Quaglio, Gerard Lamps; underwater photography, Philippe Vene; assistant director, Patrick Delabriere; casting, Gerard Moulevrier, Pascale Beraud. Reviewed at UGC Cine Cite Bercy, Paris, Dec. 10, 2000. Running time: 100 MIN.

Alfred de Morsac    Thierry Lhermitte
Barnabe    Patrick Timsit
Moeata    Marie Trintignant
Lefebvre    Francois Berleand
Reia    Anituavau Lande
Ma'i    Thierry Marani

Indiana Jones Lite meets "Lost Horizon" in "The Prince of the Pacific," a sentimental action-packed adventure with a strong yet nuanced message about diligence and duty vs. pure self-interest. Enjoyable, family-friendly fare, set in French Polynesia during WWI, reteams Thierry Lhermitte and Patrick Timsit, who toplined the 1995 smash "Un Indien dans la ville" (remade as the 1997 Tim Allen starrer "Jungle 2 Jungle"). As in "Indien," current pic also features an appealing young boy in a loincloth for young viewers to identify with.

Helmer Alain Corneau, whose long, distinguished career has been built on more sober fare, makes a supple 180-degree turn with this spirited, if overstuffed, tale, crafted for all ages and situated to take advantage of the Christmas holidays in Gaul. Domestic auds are guaranteed to eat it up, and international prospects in Lhermitte-savvy territories ("Indien" sold briskly worldwide) look as clear as the crystal blue waters off Tahiti.

Gorgeous establishing shots of a pristine Polynesian paradise give way to an Anglo-accented visitor attempting to hand-deliver a package from the States to one Alfred de Morsac. The visitor is told by an elderly gentleman (in "aging" makeup) that the fool in question has been dead for 30 years.

Story then flashes back to the brave Capt. Morsac (Lhermitte) battling the enemy in Morocco in 1914. Having recovered from serious wounds, he is dispatched to the Pacific island colonies to convince the bare-chested, tattooed natives to join up and head for the trenches in Europe.

Morsac, who wears his full uniform in the blazing sun, is upright, enterprising and devoted to his calling as a soldier and an officer. He may be laughably stiff, but he's fair-minded and honest, which makes him the textbook opposite of the local French military governor, Lefebvre (Francois Berleand), who rules with an iron hand. Lefebvre is particularly odious to Moeata (Marie Trintignant) -- the rebellious, French-born widow of the last man who tried to raise a revolt -- and her son, Reia (Anituavau Lande), the titular prince revered by the otherwise cowed local population.

Realizing Lefebvre is a vicious sadist who imprisons the locals for minor offenses and enslaves able-bodied males to extract nickel from the mines for his personal gain, Morsac attempts to arrest him and bring him to justice. Instead, Morsac ends up in the brig with another Frenchman far from home, Barnabe (Timsit), a small-potatoes con man given to ironic asides.

The mismatched pair break free and inadvertently play into young Reia's unshakable belief in an island legend. Whether he likes it or not, Morsac is the savior of this legend in Reia's eyes -- the "Tefa' aora," who will turn the colonized locals back into brave warriors. Fairly elaborate nonstop activity ensues, including a peril-fraught dive into an underwater cavern that houses a pyramid of gooey human eyeballs with a high yuck factor.

With a good guy, a hissable bad guy and a comic weasel perched between the two -- as well as buried treasure and a tense standoff involving pistols, hostages and explosives -- pic is consistently lively. A compound coda wraps up the loose ends and sends auds out smiling.

Lhermitte, who originated the project and co-wrote, is excellent as the resourceful Morsac, whose sense of honor is quaint but admirable. As Barnabe, the Alsacian petty thief with no patriotic feelings, Timsit amusingly represents a more contemporary, mercenary view.

Trintignant plays the only woman in the story and Lande the only child. Everybody else in the pic is either a French sailor, an islander co-opted by the corrupt Lefebvre (played by Berleand as a tic-ridden psychopath) or a tattooed native. Of the last, Thierry Marani as Ma'i, a seemingly invincible boyish hulk, is a standout.

Lensed on location in the tropics, the 100 million franc ($15 million) production looks very inviting, and features impressive digital effects. Ferocious ritual dances are authentic, having been reconstructed with great emotion by Maori from New Zealand. For the record, pic is also the first French production in memory to credit seven screenwriters.