colin-657 Lets just concentrate on one small matter The knowingness of the filmmakers is apparent with there choice of bike. At the time Serge would have been a biker this would have been an aspiration for a European working man that was possible of fulfilment. In his comatose state the world moved on and his icon becomes a forgotten relic as many of the Mammuths did. Out of touch he would be unaware that the bike has now become a cult and consequently recently accrued great value. I have also had my Sidcup moments and in a sort of way also been redeemed by art so I understand that sector of the film, although perhaps in this film is slightly unbalances the structure And then Yolande Moreau can make shaving an armpits so moving that I cried.

Eumenides_0 Some time ago I helped my mom look for some missing documents that she needed to have if she wanted to have her full pension when she retired. It was bureaucracy hell: hurrying from one department to another; long queues; indifferent public functionaries. A person works all his life to survive and to have some peace in his final years, but in the end all he has to show for is a collection of little papers that can be lost or destroyed. So I sympathise very much with journey the protagonist undergoes to recover his own missing documents, in Mammuth.Gérard Depardieu plays Serge, nicknamed Mammuth (because of his size?), a man who began working at sixteen and who has reached retirement age. After a lifetime of work, he finds settling down a difficult task: he can't relate very well to his wife (Yolande Moreau), who continues to work for a minimum wage at a supermarket; he doesn't have any hobbies; and he's not good at fixing little things at home. To make matters worse (or better, depending on the perspective), Serge discovers he's missing some paperwork that enables him to receive his full pension, so he hops onto his old bike and goes out on a journey to find his former employers and to simultaneously rediscover his lost youth.Mammuth is a serious-comic movie, full of odd-ball characters and dark humour, which tries to say something about modern labour. Minimum wages, social resentment, fiscal fraud, exploitation and the erosion of labour rights are discussed, with varying degrees of insight and success. The movie is very unbalanced and hits its targets as often as it misses them. The movie fares well during its comedy parts. But its attempt at seriousness is undermined by the superficiality of the way important matters are treated.The movie also suffers from trying to be too many movies in one. From road movie to social satire it's an easy jump, you can mix the two together. But the filmmakers also decided to include an awkward subplot involving a bike accident in Serge's past that killed his true love (played, with usually creepy eyes, by Isabelle Adjani). And what does that have to do with Serge's quest? OK, he uses the journey to meet old friends and relive his youth, but this ties directly to the main story of a man who wasted his whole life working and who's now trying to fill it with something. It makes thematic sense. But Adjani's ghostly presence seems to belong in a horror movie or a heavy drama and I can easily imagine Mammuth working without her subplot.In spite of the movie's shortcomings, Depardieu's performance is spotless. First all I love how unglamorous he looks in this movie. He's old, he's got long, dishevelled hair, and he's obese. And he's not shy about showing it, as his many nude scenes prove. It's so rare to see characters without perfect bodies in movies (except to be the target of bad jokes), that Depardieu's shabby looks already make this movie stand out.But it's Depardieu's acting that deserves attention. The movie isn't anything special but Depardieu makes it soar above mediocrity. He took an incoherent screenplay and transformed himself into a moody, brusque, but likable working class guy. With Serge's rough manners and dry humour guiding us through the movie, Mammuth becomes a palatable experience. Fans of solid performances will enjoy it, and fans of Depardieu must watch it. Otherwise my suggestion is to give this movie a pass.

CoBarbarella67 This is the unglamorous journey of an uneducated precarious worker driving thru France on his Mummuth bike to get the missing social security documents that will grant him his social rights to claim his pension. On this journey, he comes to terms with the death of his first love and finally acknowledges his love for his wife.Special guest stars appear throughout this outrageous road movie:for instance Isabelle Adjani who made an extraordinary come back with the French movie "the day of the skirt" (i'm unable to put French titles to French films here)The French directors are well-know for their rather satirical outlook on the world mainly thru the very popular daily TV show "Groland" on French private TV Canal+.It gives this epic road movie a genuine feeling of authenticity. It is somber and dark. It depicts the average low life people, the ones that no movies are made about. No one wants to see the miserable workers, the way they are, in a pathetic yet moving way. It is obviously a metaphor about today's society without its pretty face-lift, the supermarket cashier is not played by a glamorous JLO (Jennifer Lopez).This film will thus be repugnant to watch to the viewer that cannot stand actors without make up, fake body parts. Viewers who cannot stand to see the truth about the life of the ordinary workers, with a surreal twist should be advised not to watch the film.The film was shot in a rather bad quality which does not only show how poor they were (and incapable of raising the money for this awkward film for which Depardieu does not get a dime!) but also set the film in a genre : social realism. Throughout the film Depardieu is naked, without protection. What a great performer he is ! He does not care about his image being potentially undermined by this movie. He is truly pathetic which is exactly the feeling the directors want to bring out. That shitty life you live makes you pathetic but this is not only what the directors want us to see. Obviously - unless you're so blinded by Hollywood glamor - you cannot watch a truly weird and honest film about realities that are never featured on film. Ken Loach would never show his characters under such unkind light. That's why it is a necessity that films like this one continue to be shot. There is no glamor or dignity in leading miserable lives. So it is showed as it should be for an audience of people with a critical outlook on society who become nauseous after seeing yet another blockbuster made with beautiful perfect people evolving in a perfect plastic world.Extraordinary lines such as the dialog between Depardieu and the butcher at the supermarket where his wife works!Thanks to Depardieu for taking the part and making the movie possible. I pity those who cannot see how important this cinema is for the diversity of point of views, not only aesthetically but politically in the movie industry today.

aim7sparrow Strange and beautiful road movie, and for me that was best role of GD ever. It reminds me about Amelie with it's French beautiful romantic and absurd humor, while grainy filming, "real life" attitude, and Depardieu with long hair remind me of The Wrestler with Mickey Rourke. If you can imagine how two of them would feel combined, I think you would get this movie as a result. There was absolutely no weak acting here. Recommended for people who liked movies like "Pierrot le fou", "Bernie", or anyone who wants to discover french humor - a bit dark, sad, cynical, but still romantic at the same time.