Je suis mort mais j'ai des amis (2015)
Directed by Guillaume Malandrin, Stéphane Malandrin

Film Review

With their enigmatically titled second feature, Je suis mort mais j'ai des amis (a.k.a. I am Dead but I have Friends), Guillaume and Stéphane Malandrin convince us that Belgian comedy is not only alive and well, it is positively stealing a march in francophone cinema whilst their French and Canadian counterparts mostly stick to tried and tested formulas that grow stale in the watching.  The Malandrins' upbeat second offering makes a striking contrast with their first film. the dark and moody thriller Où est la main de l'homme sans tête? (2009).  Indeed, the duo are fast shaping up to be Belgium's answer to the Coen brothers, bringing not just flair aplenty but also a dose of quintessentially Belgian madness to some wildly different genres.

Je suis mort mais j'ai des amis is the classic road movie, but with enough madcap comedy excursions (some veering towards the outright surreal, a few tinged with black humour) to keep it fresh and involving.  Heading the likeable principal cast, and looking marvellously at ease in their hairy rocker roles, are Bouli Lanners and Wim Willaert, two of Belgium's most high profile actors.  Real-life punk rocker Jacky Lambert puts in an appearance at the top of the film, before he takes a dive and ends up for most of the film as a pile of ash - not the treatment you expect to receive as a guest artiste, but what do you expect in a Belgian comedy?

Throw in the dead man's former lover, played by Lyes Salem (a French Algerian actor who is also an award-winning filmmaker) and you have some interesting, if not to say highly strained, group dynamics as Lanners and company take to the road and muddle their way through one disaster after another in the proverbial midlife voyage of discovery.  The film does at times struggle a little to be more than just a succession of self-contained sketches inelegantly stitched together, but there's enough sincerity and depth to the performances to hold it all together and make it a rewarding viewing experience.  Je suis mort mais j'ai des amis offers a distinctly irreverent variation on a familiar theme, with a pleasing note of melancholia underlining this zanily humorous ode to friendship.

Film Synopsis

A band of ageing bearded hairy rockers are psyched up for their first American tour when tragedy strikes.  Their lead singer, Jipé, meets his end in a stupid accident, but rather than let their friend's death get them down the four remaining rockers agree to go ahead with their tour as planned, with Jipé's cremated remains taking pride of place on their stage. Yvan, Wim, Pierre and Nico are about to jet off to Los Angeles when a moustached military man, Dany, suddenly shows up and reveals that he was Jipé's secret lover.  It is the first of many unexpected turns that will befall the fifty-something rockers as they embark on their eventful journey...