Diagonaldi Very well executed

Dotbankey A lot of fun.

Donald Seymour This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Quebec_Dragon It takes place in 1830 in Paris. Vidocq is the name of the main character who's based on an actual French historical figure that's considered one of the pioneers of scientific police (think CSI). He's played by probably the most famous French actor living today: Gérard Depardieu. Rather originally, the title character dies in the first 5 minutes of the film. The rest of the story alternates between the investigation of a journalist retracing Vidocq's steps and flashbacks of Vidocq's last case. The original screenplay was written by best-selling French mystery writer, Jean-Christophe Grangé. It was his first original screenplay, and he says it will be his last, and not because he wasn't happy with it. This last case of Vidocq involves the murder of notables by lightning strike. The journalist's investigation takes us from person to person in a rather linear fashion. The investigation itself is not particularly gripping, but there are a couple of big twists at the end. The "bad guy" sports a very cool mirror mask. The fantastical elements originate from the mirror mask person, not everything is real or scientifically explained.The special effects in general, with a couple of exceptions, are pretty well done, particularly the mask's reflections. It's apparently the first commercial feature film made completely with a digital camera (as opposed to a camera with film). This means that the picture quality, at the time, was crisper than usual, also giving it an unusual look. Lots of work has been done on lighting and colours. The colours are very vivid and favour the colours red, yellow and green. The decors are a mix of real life and digital trickery, they usually look very good and unlike your standard American films. Despite taking place in the 19th century, the editing is modern and very fast, with lots of very quick close-ups. I personally didn't like that style of frenetic cutting because the cuts often seemed unnecessary and made things either less involving or a little harder to assimilate. The characters seemed a bit on the shallow side to me, but then it's more about action, mystery and suspense with a touch of fantastical. Vidocq was compared to the film Seven but in 1830. It's nowhere near as good in any regard, except perhaps for visual style, very different anyway.The director, Pitof, was a special effects supervisor for most of his career (City of Lost Children, Alien IV) and his following project was directing the infamous Catwoman. It's likely he got that job because of Vidocq. I find that the director Pitof is not very good at telling a story, has trouble with pacing and making us care about the characters. Vidocq is worth renting (or buying cheap) for the spiffy visuals alone. Overall, the movie is not bad but not memorable either. It's likely that a more talented director (Burton, Fincher, Jeunet, etc) with the same material could have done a lot better.Rating: 6 out of 10 (Good) P.S. There are no portals, dark or otherwise.

SixtusXLIV Mr. PITOF, whoever he his was certainly influenced by English( mostly Scotish) mystery novels, with their religious themes, of salvation and damnation. In 1830 French were mostly atheistic, as they are today..Those are very much the Opposite of the French tradition (namely DE SADE) who portrays "EVIL" in the brightest detail, and fearless of GOD.This movie is the opposite. The Achemist journalist is a non credible character in 1830 France. Even the Opium usage was very limited when compared to the same times in England. French enjoy their alcohols and wines which are non-depressing drugs to this very day. Opium only reached Paris in quantities after the conquest of Indochine 50 years after, Before that its appearance in the Arts is limited to Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique. But Berlioz was married to an English woman and its fans, are, even today, more English than French..The good points are Photography which is even darker than the script and Depardieu's interpretation. He is the only great French Actor of his generation..

the-lady-of-death As a friend's recommendation, I took on "Vidocq" in my movie arsenal. The plot is forever thick and leaves you guessing until the end. Twists and Turns, and an Originality that keeps you locked in your seats. At times you will find yourself wrinkling your nose to some of the eroticism presented in this film, while at the same time captivated by the uniqueness of the concepts and situations which occur throughout the film. It's a "double wrapped" present, sort of how it would be to get a gift in a box, in a box. Overall quality is pleasing to the eye and stimulating to the brain. I continue to recommend this film to anyone who enjoys a good thriller, or mind bending visual experience. However DO keep in mind the rating is exact and to the point. "R" for a reason. Enjoy!

gallegoT I've never seen a movie like this. It has everything a good movie should have - great characters, perfectly pictured by excellent actors lead by Depardieu, outstanding setting and camera, and - above all - a perfect story! It may be shocking to kill the main character at the beginning of the movie, but we can see what happened before his death, for Vidocq's case is followed up by Vidocq's former partner and a journalist. We can watch Vidocq - a real historical person - looking for a phantom, a killer of young virgins. We watch him unveiling the context of the case, bringing us to the Parisien high-class and to dark suburbs,too. He is getting closer to the killer, till the moment, where he was killed (first scene). However, this is not the end of the story, and the last scene brings a huge revelation of the phantom... It is a perfectly-made film with a lot of tricks, a lot of shocks and a lot of wonderful shots. The plot itself is great, but done this way it aspires to be one of the most beautiful action/thriller/mystery movie of the last decade. And it also shows the strength of French film-making.