Bimboland (1998)
Directed by Ariel Zeitoun

Film Review

Whilst its raison d'être is primarily to entertain (or so it seems to think), Bimboland is a film that does broach some serious issues - particularly about society's out-dated attitudes towards women (to succeed in life, a woman must be both intelligent and an object of desire, whereas neither attribute seems to be required of the male sex).  Unfortunately, the film has so many defects - mainly in the script and direction departments - that it fails to make any real positive impact.  If anything, the film helps to reinforce the crude stereotypical images of women, instead of getting us to reflect on our attitudes and change the way we regard women in what is still, regrettably, a male dominated world.  With the exception of Judith Godrèche, who visibly struggles to make her character convincing (and almost succeeds), every other member of the cast appears to have no idea what the film is about and some - notably Dany Boon (the future director of the hit comedy Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis) - look as if they are in totally the wrong profession.  There are some entertaining moments in the film, but the characterisation and plot are so ramshackle that, in the end, it just becomes too painful to watch without the anaesthetising influence of a strong alcohol beverage. Still, it's slightly more digestible than some of director Ariel Zeitoun's other films - Le Dernier gang (2007) and Angélique (2013).

Film Synopsis

Ethnology student Cécile Bussy believes she has discovered a tribe in the Amazonian rain forest which has been completely untouched by civilisation.  When it turns out that the tribe has in fact been civilised, Cécile has to look elsewhere for the subject of her thesis.  She then meets Alex, a young woman who is her polar opposite - sexy but dim, the archetypal bimbo.  Cécile at last has an idea for her thesis - she intends to make a detailed study of bimbos.   So that she can experience first hand the world of the bimbo, she must herself undergo a transformation - from an emotionally suppressed intellectual into a ravishing laid back blonde.  An unexpected consequence of Cécile's research is that the head of her faculty, Laurent Gaspard, falls in love - not with her, but with her bimbo alter ego…