A Disappointing Continuation

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

1st watched 6/14/2009 – 6 out of 10 (Dir- Benoit Delpine & Gustave Kervern): Quirky little road movie comedy about an unlikely pair who definitely don't like each other at the beginning of the movie but then get injured in a tractor while fighting each other and are forced into a similar situation. They are both crippled and no longer have much of a life to live so they take to the road and just happen to hook-up together for the journey. They each have a separate destination but somehow they are dragged along together many times just because they are both crippled and people mistake them as friends. The movie has very little dialogue and it's humor really comes out of the situations they are put in and what they do in those situations. The humor is definitely dark, for example ---- one big laugh comes when one of them steals an elderly persons' electric wheelchair(it's funny because we know they are just trying to survive any way they can and they aren't used to this). There is no music background in the movie so you pay attention to every sound and every camera movement which is very compelling and very un-Hollywood like. The slow moving story is OK, because the characters keep our attention and we pay attention to everything because of they way the movie is made. One character is a motocross enthusiast so we trek to some of their races and the other character doesn't appear to care much for anything until we find out what he cares about at the very end. I won't spoil the ending but it has to do with the manufacturer's of the tractor that caused the injury. The ironic ending is a brilliant bookend to a very unique and slow-moving comedy. The quiet movie will keep your attention and give you a few laughs so it's definitely a worthwhile view if you get the chance at seeing this French piece of cinema.

Forget about Thelma and Louise (1991), The Sugarland Express (1974) and others: this is a road movie with a real difference – actually many differences.First, it's shot in beautiful, stark black-and-white, always the best, in my opinion, for watching faces – the shadows bringing out the grimaces, smiles, sadness, despair etc, in a way that colour misses. Second, most of the players in this story are nameless. Third, there is virtually no musical sound track; but there is a hilarious scene at a biker gathering when le chanteur finlandais (Bouli Lanners) sings – in English – the well know blues song, 'Sonny'. And, finally, the story is told more or less visually, as good cinema should; while the sparse dialog fills in the narrative 'gaps' for the viewer.It doesn't start as a road movie at all: two locals in a provincial town have an argument that results in both of them rendered paralyzed from the waist down. After a period of hospitalization, they both return to their homes in wheelchairs, realizing that their lives are ruined unless they try to get compensation from the company that produced the faulty equipment that caused their injuries. So, they decide to go to Finland together, to the headquarters of the company – Aaltra – and demand compensation. And so, they begin their journey…in wheelchairs! The rest of the story isn't really about Aaltra, at all. Instead, the directors – who also play the two paralyzed protagonists – use that scenario to explore and satirize how ordinary people treat the wheelchair bound and vice-versa, setting up some moments of side-splitting humour and irony as the two travel 3000 km to finally reach their objective. And, what an objective it is...which I'll leave you to discover.For me, this movie is a treat, a feast about why people go out of their way to be helpful, kind, difficult, unpleasant, devious, obnoxious etc – and what can happen when they lose the capacity for trying to understand another's point of view. It's an object lesson for all, and a very funny one to boot.Highly recommended for all lovers of good cinema and clever comedy.

'Aaltra', made on a budget of about ninepence (and showing every penny of it) is a harsh and unsentimental comedy about a couple of paraplegics who go on a road trip from Belgium to Finland by means of hitch-hiking in their wheelchairs. The fact that the two travelling companions are bitter enemies only adds to the bizarre hilarity.Both travellers are intentionally depicted as unlikeable. The filmmakers rather daringly go against audience sentiment, deliberately undermining any sympathy that the physical handicap of the main characters would give them. One of the two handicapped men is shown asking passers-by to help him across the road ... and then he tries to snatch their wallets while they assist him! Elsewhere, there is a great deal of pratfall comedy at the expense of the two paraplegics.The entire film is shot in stark, washed-out monochrome. I suspect that this was a necessity due to the very low production budget, but the filmmakers have cleverly turned this to the advantage of the narrative. The whole film looks like some stark minimalist seriocomedy by Samuel Beckett. Imagine Vladimir and Estragon in wheelchairs, on their way to see Godot. Or two Hamms without a Clov.There are some bizarre continuity lapses: these seem to be down to the low budget. And there is also a very gratuitous insertion of a naked woman; I suspect that the distributor insisted upon this, in order for the film to get a larger audience. 'Aaltra' is not to all tastes, but I laughed heartily and the filmmakers show real ability. I'll rate this movie 7 out of 10.

This movie was excellent, the jokes are completely different from the TV show, it's subtle humour you laugh just with the situations and the faces of the actors which are for the most non pro.The acting of the main character is good, I like the landscape they choose and the old texture of this black and white movie which remind me of "C'est arrivé près de chez vous".Sure everybody won't be able to laugh, especially non-french speaker, if you don't know France and their strange country people, you won't like this movie, but still I am disappointed that the rating is so low for this movie because its humour is really special, it's almost a snuff movie :)For me it's a good movie, made without money totally independent.8/10