Final Cut

Around 15 minutes into this French remake of a Japanese zombie comedy I found myself wondering if this might be the worst film of the year, and even a bit guilty for suggesting Merv see it with me. Imagine my surprise, dear Viz readers, to be happily proven wrong. This is a great lark. The original, One Cut of the Dead, from 2017, seems to be a virtual template, aside from a few clever story angles that connect the two. In a gory nutshell, it concerns a film crew attempting to make a low-budget zombie film in an abandoned events hall, when a bunch of real zombies begin to queer the pitch.

Directed (and adapted) by Michel Hazanavicius, of The Artist fame, this opened the Cannes Film Festival in May 2022. It stars one of my favourite actors, Roman Duris as Remi, the director, and Bérénice Bejo as Nadia, who has a fantastic reason for giving up acting. Their daughter, Romy, is played by the actual director's daughter, Simone Hazanavicius (also step-daughter of Bejo, it's all getting a little too meta). The film is comprised of three distinct sections, and the satisfaction lies in our blooming realisation as they unpeel from each other. It's pretty hard to pull off farce, but Hazanavicius (and fair dues must also go to the original writers, Shin'ichirô Ueda and Ryoichi Wada) does a sterling job, replete with blood, vomit and shite. 

The supporting cast are economically illustrated, each one important in the wash-up. The boorish young twat, Raphaël (Finnegan Oldfield) grates against 'unprofessionalism' while name dropping Lars (von Trier) and spouting Godard-ian anti-capitalism axioms. His co-lead, Ava (Matilda Lutz) is a self-absorbed, preening cover model, and the camera op, Phillipe (Grégory Rolland) teeters on the edge of sobriety most of the time. Raphaël Quenard, as choleric sound guy, Jonathan, and Jean-Pascal Zadi, as gormless musician, Fatih provide extra-value chuckles. Also, keep an eye out for arch-nutjob, Quentin Dupieux (director of Deerskin) in a small cameo.

The triumph of Final Cut is that it manages to hold the attention just enough in that crud-awful first act to justify the terrific U-turn it takes later. It all makes sense if you stick it out. This is ballsy film-making, with some fantastic lines and fun peeks behind the curtain. There's even time for a sweet family moment towards the end (though, somewhat realistically, Romy's adoration is tempered just a smidge). Wonderful craic. 

Final Cut is screening as part of the Alliance Francaise French Film Festival at Palace and Luna Cinemas.

See also: 

There's a bit of Tarantino's Jackie Brown (1997) to this, and you can't go past Edgar Wright's Shaun of the Dead (2004) for zom-rom-coms.