Themes: Bohemian Life, Creative Block, Fighting the System
Main Cast: Jeremy Davies, Élodie Bouchez, Gérard Depardieu, Giancarlo Giannini
Release Year: 2001
Country: US
Run Time: 91 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
The feature debut of Roman Coppola (son of Oscar-winning director Francis Ford Coppola) centers around an international film crew making a low-budget, Barbarella-like feature in Paris in 1969. The film is called Dragonfly and is being directed by Andrzej (Gérard Depardieu), who wishes to make a revolutionary work rather than the tacky fluff it is becoming. He is soon fired by the film's Italian producer Enzo (Giancarlo Giannini) when he can't produce a satisfactory climactic scene. After briefly replacing Andrzej with an American horrormeister named Felix DeMarco (Jason Schwartzman), the film's editor and second-unit director, the job is finally handed to Paul (Jeremy Davies). Paul is pleased with the offer, but more devoted to his 16 mm filming of his diary of daily life. He eventually begins to fall for the leading lady (Angela Lindvall), but must retrieve footage of the feature stolen by Andrezej and try to keep the troubled production together. CQ features Billy Zane, Massimo Ghini, and Dean Stockwell in supporting roles. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
Review
Paul (Jeremy Davies) may take his 16 mm film diary too seriously, but writer/director Roman Coppola brings ample humor to his movie about Paul's attempt to juggle both his personal filmmaking and his personal life with the troubled production of a low-budget French sci-fi flick. CQ is hardly a groundbreaking film; it doesn't have much new to say about artistic compromises, the blurry line between illusion and reality, or the other topics that have interested the numerous directors who have created movies about their own profession. However, it is an entertaining homage to the cinema of the late '60s. The scenes from the film-within-the-film "Dragonfly" are particularly entertaining thanks to production designer Dean Tavoularis and the rest of Coppola's crew, who successfully convey the grooviness of '60s movies such as Modesty Blaise, Barbarella, and Danger: Diabolik. The campy cinematic style and amusing details (e.g., snow on the moon) are likely to amuse viewers even if they don't catch all the film-related in-jokes, and Jeremy Davies finds just the right mixture of earnestness and exasperation to maximize the effectiveness of his scenes. Most of the remaining cast members also fare well even though they don't get to play multidimensional characters. Billy Zane is fun as a sci-fi revolutionary based on Che Guevera, Jason Schwartzman is also amusing as an obnoxious flavor-of-the-month director, and Dean Stockwell is quite good in a small, serious role as Paul's father. Unfortunately, the scenes in CQ that are unrelated to Dragonfly tend to be too slow-paced, and the conflict between Paul and his girlfriend isn't particularly compelling. Also, CQ lacks a satisfying ending, which is somewhat ironic since it's about a director's struggle to find a satisfying ending to two movies. Nonetheless, CQ is enjoyable as long as you don't take it too seriously. ~ Todd Kristel, All Movie Guide
Luc Chalon - Art Director, Juliette Menager - Casting, Beatrice Kruger - Casting, Michael Polaire - Co-producer, Jimmy De Brabant - Co-producer, Judy Shrewsbury - Costume Designer, Roman Coppola - Director, Leslie Jones - Editor, Francis Ford Coppola - Executive Producer, Georgia Kacandes - Executive Producer, Willi Baer - Executive Producer, Dean Tavoularis - Production Designer, Robert Yeoman - Cinematographer, Gary Marcus - Producer, Philippe Turlure - Set Designer, Richard Beggs - Sound/Sound Designer, Carlo Thoss - Sound/Sound Designer, Michael Kirchberger - Sound Editor, Roman Coppola - Screenwriter, Fantasy II Film Effects - Visual Effects
Set in Paris in 1969, young film editor Paul Ballard (Jeremy Davies) is currently working on a science-fiction, adventure film called "Dragonfly", written and directed by renowned director Andrezej (Gérard Depardieu). Andrezej is utterly infatuated with his film's star, Valentine (Angela Lindvall), a young American whom he discovered at a political rally some time ago. While working on the film, Paul, an aspiring filmmaker himself, regularly borrows cameras and other equipment from work in order to film his own project: a documentary of Paul's own self-reflections. Although Dragonfly is an obvious homage to Barbarella, CQ occurs in 1969, rather than 1968, when Barbarella was filmed - possibly to allow for references to be made to the large scale general strikes occurring in May 1968 in France.
In "Dragonfly", Valentine plays a sexy freelance super-agent who lives in a spaceship perched on top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris of the future, and undertakes assignments for the "World Council". Dragonfly's latest mission is to stop a revolutionary leader known as "Mr. E" (Billy Zane) who is based on the "far-out" side of the Moon. The World Council only reluctantly turns for help to Dragonfly, mostly because she charges huge sums of money - which the council literally showers her with.
