I wonder whether you can help me with something. I know that you came here looking for good movie recommendations, and you will get them, no doubt, but just hear me out. For the love of Satan, I can’t exactly figure out what makes these French action thrillers so watchable. Putain! Not only are they easy to watch and quite entertaining, but they’re also quite nostalgic in a weird way. I’ll just tell you a couple of things about this, sadly, little-known movie, and then I’ll elaborate. The Orphans, AKA Les Orphelins, is an entertaining French action thriller following a familiar tried-and-tested formula. However, I do not want you to think that this is some shitty commercial wannabe B-movie. The production values are excellent, and the action sequences are intense and well-choreographed. And there will be a lot of action sequences here.
We will get a lot of nasty car chases with brutal crashes, hand-to-hand combat, and, finally, a bunch of entertaining shootouts. All of them are CGI-free with real cars flying through the air and impacting real obstacles. After a tragedy, two friends who grew up together but haven’t seen each other for 20 years are reunited with a common goal. While Gab chooses the cops, Driss operates in the murkier waters of personal protection. Both of them are skilled operators determined to protect a young girl who finds herself at the crosshairs of a powerful and nasty businesswoman. If this story sounds a bit stereotypical, it’s because it is. You probably saw a bunch of movies like this. At least the girl our two heroes are trying to protect is 17 years old.
I’m tired of seeing movies where some grizzled operator fights for a young girl who’s like 8 or 12 years old. For example, Taxi Driver does feature this premise but in a subversive way. The movies I’m talking about are far more exploitative and commercial. I guess two of the best examples are Jason Statham’s Homefront and Safe, both of which follow the pretty much same storyline. We also have a variation on a theme with Man on Fire and Logan. The settings change, but the story stays the same. They either crash on an alien planet, survive an apocalypse, or have gangsters on their trail. To further emphasize the magic of French cinema, I have to mention Leon, one of my favorite movies. Can you guess what happens in it? A grizzled hitman is trying to protect a young girl wanted by gangsters.
To finish this little segment, here’s another French movie that I hold close to my heart, The Fifth Element. With that out of the way, let’s talk about this French, seemingly B-action movie magic. They’re the only ones who are able to create that loose and yet still engaging atmosphere, mimicking movies I grew up watching. The Hollywood ones feel just too empty and commercial; they lack that something special. And for the life of me, I can’t figure out why that is happening. So, with that in mind, we can look at this movie and try to gain some insight. The opening scene perfectly illustrates what I’m talking about. We see two contestants dressed for fencing squaring off in a formal setting. However, they’re not sporting swords but wooden sticks.
And they’re not trying to cut or stab the opponent, but just hit them with that fucking stick. So, you’re immediately intrigued. What the fuck is this? Is this even real? And let me tell you, it’s fucking real and it’s called French Stick Fighting. Okay, okay, the official term is Canne de Combat. Putain! Moving on, nothing says fun action flick like a guy hanging from a van during a high-speed chase through a city. You can do this stunt fully aware that it’s “not realistic” like in some Ryan Gosling Netflix movie. Or you can approach it as a nostalgic artefact from the past, with reverence towards its undeniable movie magic. The Orphans chose the latter approach, and it turned out great. Of course, you have to have a good cast to pull this off.
In the lead role, we have the dependable Alban Lenoir, now a veritable French action star. Ever since I saw him in Lost Bullet, I knew he was going places. Check him out in AKA, a bit more serious thriller. Alongside him is Dali Benssalah, a rising star who has the looks and skills to make it. Finally, Sonia Faidi was a great choice for young Leïla Lakti, and I hope we’ll see more of her in the future.
Director: Olivier Schneider
Writers: Alban Lenoir, Nicolas Peufaillit, Olivier Schneider
Cast: Alban Lenoir, Dali Benssalah, Sonia Faidi, Suzanne Clément, Anouk Grinberg, Romain Levi
Fun Facts: Director of the movie The Orphans, Olivier Schneider, is a former stuntman who worked on more 100 movies. After the great success of Taken, he went on to work on Unknown, Safe House, and Fast and Furious franchise.
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IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt35330717/
