BBC HomeExplore the BBC
This page has been archived and is no longer updated. Find out more about page archiving.

28 October 2014
GloucestershireGloucestershire

BBC Homepage
»BBC Local
Gloucestershire
Things to do
People & Places
Nature
History
Religion & Ethics
Arts and Culture
BBC Introducing
TV & Radio

Sites near Gloucestershire

Bristol
Coventry
South East Wales
Hereford & Worcs
Oxford
Wiltshire

Related BBC Sites

England

Contact Us

Blueberry
15Blueberry (2004)

updated 12 July 2004
reviewer's rating
3 out of 5
Reviewed by Jamie Russell


Director
Jan Kounen
Writer
Jan Kounen
Matt Alexander
Gérard Brach
Stars
Vincent Cassel
Juliette Lewis
Michael Madsen
Eddie Izzard
Temuera Morrison
Length
124 minutes
Distributor
UGC Films
Cinema
23 July 2004
Country
France/Mexico/UK
Genre
Western
Web Links
Official site



The western meets William S Burroughs in Blueberry, an hallucinogenic experience starring Vincent Cassel as world-weary Marshall Blueberry in the 1870s. Raised by injuns as a teenager, Blueberry's upbringing comes in handy when a group of greedy adventurers cross into Indian territory in search of buried treasure. Caught between his lawman's duty and loyalty to his adopted people, the Marshall finds himself embarking on a drug-fuelled trip into the heart of his own darkness. Looks like the West just swapped wild for weird.

"TWO PARTS BONKERS TO ONE PART BORING"

Sounds pretty cracked, doesn't it? Well that's only the start of this peyote chain-smoking effort that's two parts bonkers to one part boring. "Loosely adapted" from a series of popular French graphic novels, Blueberry combines some action-packed western sequences with lots of druggy references as the Marshall follows his Indian brother Runi (Temuera Morrison) into the depths of his own unconscious while battling a hardened killer (Michael Madsen) and trying to woo love interest Juliette Lewis.

Forget The Missing, this is The Totally Lost. As Cassel learns the ways of the spirits, eagles soar, peyote triggers demented visions, and wise old injuns mutter metaphysical nonsense like "If one day you decide to know yourself, you'll have to choose the warrior's path".

Director Jan Kounen (responsible for the equally offbeat splatter movie heist flick Dobermann) is definitely going out on a limb here, but he manages to keep things lively with some cult casting - including Ernest Borgnine as a wheelchair-bound sheriff whose rig is packed full of sawn-off shotguns.

The finale owes more to Tron or The Lawnmower Man than any western John Ford would recognise, with Blueberry sucking down some hardcore hallucinogens to battle his nemesis in the dream world. As centipedes, insect larvae, beetles, snakes, and scorpions morph into a psychedelic head-trip of CGI graphics, this is one movie that should definitely not be ingested without medical supervision.

Find out more about "Blueberry" at
Movie Review Query Engine
The Internet Movie Database


The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites


music
bullet
Latest news & reviews
bullet
Comedy nights
bullet
Festivals guide
bullet
On stage in Cheltenham
bullet
On stage in Gloucester
bullet
On stage in Stroud
bullet
On stage in Tewkesbury
bullet
On stage in the Cotswolds
bullet
On stage in the Forest
bullet
Get YOUR event listed
bullet
FREE nights out on us!
bullet
News & reviews
bullet
Latest releases
bullet
County cinema listings
bullet
Gloucs in the movies
bullet
The Harry Potter file
bullet
Tolkien's Forest
bullet
The Review Archive
bullet
News & reviews
bullet
Gig guide
bullet
Venues
bullet
Local talent: get listed!
bullet
News & reviews
bullet
Club nights
bullet
Venues
bullet
Tourist attractions
bullet
Ghostly Gloucestershire
bullet
Royal Gloucestershire
bullet
Gardens to visit
CONTACT US

BBC Gloucestershire
London Road
Gloucester
GL1 1SW

Telephone (website only):
+44 (0)1452 308585

e-mail:
gloucestershire@bbc.co.uk





About the BBC | Help | Terms of Use | Privacy & Cookies Policy