Twelve years after the end of the television series and after multiple postponements, the first part of
Kaamelott
adapted to the cinema is finally released in theaters.
Directed by the Lyonnais Alexandre Astier, it is one of the most anticipated films of the year, or at least by fans of the series, as evidenced by the 206,000 tickets sold for the previews on Tuesday evening.
Just before the entry into force, this Wednesday, July 21, of the health pass.
To read also: Burlesque, virtuoso and even moving: in the cinema, the Kaamelott spirit is always there!
In 2009,
Kaamelott said
his farewell to TV after six successful seasons, but with the promise of one day returning to the big screen.
It was held.
Set ten years after the events recounted in the series, this first part tells how Arthur, the ex-King of Brittany, will try to unite his former companions to bring down the cruel Lancelot du Lac, who took power in his absence .
In the cast, fans can find all the oldies of the series, such as Alain Chabat, Christian Clavier, Antoine de Caunes, Géraldine Nakache or Audrey Fleurot, but also discover newcomers such as Sting and Guillaume Gallienne.
Our journalist Olivier Delcroix savored with pleasure
Kaamelott - first part
, which "
now has enough to go beyond its character as a televisual phenomenon to become a social phenomenon
", because the film "
continues to use the unbridled comedy of the
Pilot
years
and references to world pop culture
”. Winks which also pleased the
Parisian,
where we observe that the film is "
stuffed with references to pop culture that insiders will be happy to uncover. [...] In the meantime, for some measuring all the subtleties, you almost want to see it a second time
”.
In
Le Figaro
, we also appreciate the originality peculiar to
Kaamelott
, who refuses
"to play in the heart of summer franchouillarde comedies"
.
Conversely,
“this pastiche of clichés from the Middle Ages traces its own path”
.
“
Kaamelott changes gear.
Everything is bigger, more beautiful, longer
”according to our conferee, for whom this first part is
“ a treat which sails astutely between the Sunday picnic and the Lyonnaise banquet ”
.
To read also: Lionnel Astier: "In
Kaamelott: Premier Volet
, Léodagan will change a little"
If the series was already "
a burlesque work, brilliant, unprecedented, virtuoso, served by a unique humor
", the passage through the cinema allows to add "
a new ingredient, absent on the small screen: emotion
", analyzes Jean -Christophe Buisson in
Le Figaro Magazine.
In
the JDD
as in
the Parisian
, we recognize that the film puts
"full eyes"
thanks to
"neat images, fluid staging, stylized sets and costumes, special effects"
for the first, and by its "
crazy landscapes, epic music and careful aesthetics
”for the second.
20 minutes
shares this observation: the sets and the costumes
"Bring an epic breath and make this fresco a delight for the eyes, the ears and the mind"
.
"
Epic
", "
crazy
" and "
hilarious
",
Kaamelott
also shines with his dialogues and characters. For Jean-Christophe Buisson,
"the right words fuse and sparkle, silly sentences follow one another, stupid games with incomprehensible rules multiply, nods to great French comedies follow one another"
. At
20 minutes
,
"we happily find the heroes of the series in a spectacular fresco"
, while in the columns of
Première,
we admit
"sometimes laughing very frankly, thanks to calibrated lines and the intact slaughter of certain characters. "
.
To read also: Bruno Salomone: “I will not play in“ Kaamelott: Premier Volet ””
However, if Alexandre Astier has assured in numerous interviews that his film would be accessible to the uninitiated, many do not share this opinion.
In
the JDD
, we recognize that
"it is especially the fans who will appreciate the misadventures of this first part"
, and that "
the neophyte can get lost in a sprawling intrigue
".
The same goes for
20 minutes
, which admits that "
neophytes may still feel a little lost
" and for
Télérama
, for whom
Kaamelott
is "
less a full-fledged film than a gift for the fans
".
Finally, if the passage from television to cinema convinces most critics, some regret that the director has stayed a little too much in a television spirit.
“Few tracking shots, little depth of field, little movement. [...] Certain scenes thus look too much like very lengthy episodes, which fit badly in the two hours
, estimates
First.
For
Télérama
, impossible to miss the
"patent weaknesses of staging"
,
"without relief as well as the assembly, expeditious"
. In
Le Monde
, Jacques Mandelbaum notes the references to the Monty Python of
Sacré Grail
and to the HBO series,
Game of Thrones
.
"Clearly drawing from both, Kaamelott is however devoid of the eccentric madness of the first as the epic scale of the second,"
writes the critic of the evening newspaper, noting that the specificity of this comedy is elsewhere. It is primarily due to the spirit of Alexandre Astier.
"
Kaamelott
passes for its author from the stage of soft madness to that of hard madness, second skin, existential lining"
, he notes with reason. So "
long live King Arthur!"
», Concludes
20 minutes
.
