LOU DE LAÂGE, JACQUES HIGELIN, DANIEL AUTEUIL, AND GUILLAUME CANET IN JAPPELOUP

A bumpy road to equestrian glory

From French Canadian director Christian Duguay comes this French sports movie Jappeloup, whose co-stars are a great rider and a great horse who made their way through many ups and downs to a Gold Medal for France in Show Jumping at the 1988 Seoul summer Olympics -- Pierre Durand, Jr. , the rider and Jappeloup the horse. This is also the story of Pierre Durand's uneasy but passionate romance with horses and Show Jumping, shared by his winegrower father as well as his wife and the young female groom of gypsy origin who challenges Pierre's egoism and puts the horse first.

This also seems an evident labor of love for the French heartthrob and now successful director (of Tell No One), Guillaume Canet, who plays Pierre Durand, Jr. and wrote the screenplay, a former equestrian competitor who's seen doing his own riding in the film. Canet had something to do with the star-studded cast, which includes Daniel Auteuil as Durand Sr. and Maria hinds (of Lady Chatterley) as Pierre's wife Nadia. Tchéky Karyo is notable as Marcel Rozier, a great former equestrian and coach of the French national team with whom Pierre has irreconcilable differences. So is the earthy, vivacious Lou de Laâge as Raphaëlle Dalio, the aforementioned groom, whose presence is seen as essential to Jappeloup's great achievement. The rumpled Jacques Higelin is flavorful as Raphaëlle's father.

What's somewhat unusual is that the film never stints on showing the troubles, and what must have been most difficult in the shooting was showing the many falls and injuries (as well as a terrible fire) that occurred along the way, not to mention several disqualifications from competition due to Pierre's jumping the bell and his humiliating failure in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. Canet and Duguay arguably show more of the technical side of the sport than might come in a mainstream Hollywood film like Secretariat. Canet may lack what we would consider Hollywood star quality, but he has not only youthfulness and athleticism but an utter conviction and commitment that parallel that of his character, Pierre Durand, Jr. Auteuil gives a warm and touching performance as Durand père. In fact Canet was a competitive equestrian in his youth and has said in an interview that "The decision to quit competition, despite a father’s passion, was not unfamiliar to me." Pierre Jr. makes that decision, but then later is forced to reverse it.

As for the authenticity, it turns out also that Duguay, the director, is an accomplished horseman and former of the Canadian national equestrian team. And indeed Canet, though he had given up riding, retrained to do all of his own performances in the saddle and says he was so inspired by this experience that he has now bought a horse and returned to competition. Maria Hinds too is an equestrian; Canet has said he used to see her in competitions. So was the ancient and indomitable Jean Rocefort, who appears briefly in the film as a spectator, referred to by name. There is a reference to Gail Greenough, the Canadian show jumping champion who beat Durand at LA, and I think the real Grenough may appear in that scene. Donald Sutherland also appears in the film in a cameo as John Lester, an American who almost buys Jappeloup for his son for $400,000 when Durand is disenchanted after his failure in the 1984 Olympic Games.

Jappeloup will only appeal to fans of horses and sport, and it has the usual trajectory, the ups and downs its protagonist's vocational conflicts (he becomes a lawyer, but equestrian competition takes over his life and forces him to renounce law for sport), the quirks of the horse (Jappeloup is unusually small, fiery, unpredictable, and hard to train), births and deaths, the thrills and panics of the final triumph. The success of this film in a US theatrical release seems unlikely, but this is nonetheless a remarkable and beautiful film that will appeal especially to insiders because of the involvement of real equestrians in the film. In what it seeks to do, Jappeloup is an unqualified success. The collaboration between Duguay and Canet was ideal, a marriage made in heaven, the ensemble fine. CGI is seamless. Except for some 79's and 80's hits that are gratingly loud in transitional passages in the first half everything seems perfect.

Jappeloup, 130 mins., was screened for this review as part of the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema, staged by the Film Society of Lincoln Center with UniFrance from Feb. 28-March 10, 2013. This is the film's North American debut. It will be released in Belgium and France March 13, 2013.

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©Chris Knipp. Blog: http://chrisknipp.blogspot.com/.