Zazie dans le métro
Directed by: Louis Malle
Written by: Louis Malle and Jean-Paul Rappeneau
Starring: Catherine Demongeot, Philippe Noiret, Hubert Deschamps

In a time when kids films live or die based on their ability to speak to both children and adults, it’s interesting to look back at Louis Malle’s fancifully frenetic (alliteration +1) Zazie dans le métro as an early prototype for our generation’s Harry Potter’s or Toy Story’s. Malle mixes vicarious, childlike sensibilities with broader themes that push the boundaries of children’s storytelling, resulting in a hybrid piece of entertainment that’s a pure joy for audiences of all ages.

A rambunctious 12 year old named Zazie is dropped off with her uncle Gabriel, a female impersonator by night, while her single Mother spends some quality time on a romantic rendezvous with her boyfriend. It’s Zazie’s first time in Paris and she desperately wants to ride the metro, which much to her disappointment, is currently out of commission due to an ongoing strike. To make up for it, she decides to explore the city on her own, evading the watchful eye of her uncle and getting herself into all sorts of trouble. In the process, she meets a number of unusual characters, most of which threaten her fun in one way or another, resulting in goofy chase sequences that make use of a variety of early music video editing techniques. Jump cuts, musical montages and some clever trick photography make for some energetic and comedic set pieces. It’s interesting that the non-traditional aesthetic sensibilities of the French New Wave lends itself so perfectly to a kids film. Beyond the set pieces and broad slapstick gags, Zazie brings a naive sense of honesty and curiosity to the people she comes into contact with. Her attempts to confirm her uncle’s suspected “homosessuality” sheds an innocent, inquisitive light on adult subjects, providing a fresh and innocuous perspective on otherwise contentious content.

Malle’s Zazie is based on Raymond Queneau’s novel of the same name, which some considered ‘unfilmable’. While Queneau’s book apparently plays with language in a unique way (I haven’t read it), Malle’s big screen adaptation retains that same sense of mischief, revelling in anarchic cinematic techniques that comment on the craft of filmmaking while simultaneously indulging in it. His use of sight gags and cartoonish editing tricks immediately brought to mind the films of Richard Lester. Having just made my way through a chunk of Lester’s filmography, it’s clear Louis Malle’s Zazie was a direct influence on his early work with the Beatles (A Hard Days Night, Help!) and likely informed his Palm D’or winning swinging sex comedy “The Knack…and How to Get it”. They share a similar fondness of broad, slapstick comedy and complex sight gags, accentuated by a variety of in-camera special effects. Perhaps the contemporary counterpart to this style might be Michel Gondry’s brand of cut and paste filmmaking, likely inspired by both Zazie and the early works of Lester. While there is a complexity to Zazie’s visuals, the story is fairly basic in comparison to the current crop of excessively plotted, overly complicated kids films popularized by the Harry Potter franchise. I suppose fourty years of cinema have acclimatized kids to a denser brand of storytelling, but it’s refreshing to look back on Zazie dans le métro as a fun, chaotic and visually inspired piece of cinema.

Zazie definitely benefits from the high definition treatment as it’s a film that’s visually driven and filled with a variety of cinematic techniques. There’s still some grain that gives us a sense of the film’s age and the wonderful colours and off-the-wall aesthetics are highlighted. As for special features, the disc includes video interviews with Louis Malle, novelist Raymond Queneau, actress Catherine Demongeot and screenwriter Jean-Paul Rappeneau. We also get a brand new audio interview with artistic consultant William Klein, and a 2005 video piece called Le Paris de Zazie, which retraces some of the film’s shooting locations. I was a little disappointed at the lack of an audio commentary track but to be honest, I find the majority of Criterion’s commentaries to be hit or miss. Also, it would’ve been nice to see some content focused on the various techniques Louis Malle employed to tell this story. Still, it’s a great collection of features for a great film. Like Nobuhiko Obayahsi’s House, Louis Malle plays with numerous filmmaking techniques to tell his story in a way that speaks to his love of cinema, making Zazie dans le métro a worthy addition to Criterion’s high definition catalogue.

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