Circus Angel
(aka FIFI LA PLUME)
With: Philippe Avron (Fifi), Mireille Negre (the Girl), Henri Lambert, Michel Thomass
English-Language Version:
Plot Outline (IMDb): A cat burglar joins the circus to escape the police, and allows the ringmaster to surgically implant him with wings. He continues his thefts during his off-hours, but gets involved in the problems of people around him, while also romancing one of the other circus performers.
***
Excellent, albeit morally ambiguous French fantasy of petty crook Fifi who gets a pair of wings and can suddenly fly.
Everybody thinks Fifi is an angel from heaven, but he still has the heart of a thief. He steals clocks and jewels everywhere he goes, but never seems able to keep them.
Fifi likes to think of himself as a heavenly Robin Hood, stealing from the corrupt to give to the pure. He also considers himself a fraud, but isn't he in fact a real angel? He learns to fly with
cardboard wings, which is impossible, and teaches everyone to see the divine in their lives.
In the end, Fifi marries and has an angel child. This very pretty film has a nice noir look and unusually deft dubbing. From Albert Lamorisse, the man who gave us THE RED BALLOON and WHITE MANE. CIRCUS ANGEL received only limited TV distribution in the U.S., and may be Lamorisse' masterpiece.
Video/DVD availability: VHS (Embassy Home Video, out of print)
(1965, France) black and white 75 minutes
Film Montsouris
Screenplay: Albert Lamorisse
Music: Jean-Michel Defaye
Cinematography: Maurice Fellous, Pierre Petit
Directed by Albert Lamorisse
(1985) Janus Films / Embassy Pictures 75 minutes