Blueberry: Psychedelic Western from France

Mike ‘Blueberry’ Donovan
(played by Vincent Cassel), a US. Marshall, survives the high desert
while chasing down the man who killed his girlfriend. That man,
Wally Blount (played by Michael Madsen) is in turn chasing the
tale of a mountain riddled with gold mines deep in Indian territory.
The IMDb reference offers little more explanation than this rather
prosaic plot, but don’t be fooled, there’s a lot more going on under the surface
of this western.

I’d never heard of the film until several months ago when I
came across
this youtube video of the ayahuasca trip overlayed with
music from Godspeed You Black Emporer. Esoteric shamanism never
looked so good! I’d always intended to watch the film in its entirety,
so when a reader
commented that they’d like to see this reviewed, I
jumped at the chance.

This 2004 film was directed by Jan Kounen and is based on
the French language comic strip created by Jean-Michel Charlier
and
Jean ‘Moebius’ Giraud. I say taken from, because while the film is
obviously patterned on the characters from the strip, the storyline
itself does not necessarily occur in the ongoing series judging from
the coverage online.

Psychedelic experiences underscore
this film’s otherwise straight forward plot. At several points
throughout the film, Blueberry drinks potions triggering an
ongoing undulating ejaculation of special effects that flow out
across the viewer, layered with symbolic meaning that advances
the storyline while adding a supernatural element and creating
a commentary on karma and the role of the dead in the affairs of
the living.

Impressive visuals run
throughout this film, and indeed Blueberry has more in common with
Easy Rider than it does Pale Rider. Sure, this is a western, but
it’s by no means an American film. There are
lengthy discussions in languages other than English which further
the plot, but the gist of these conversations must be inferred
from the actions on-screen. No subtitles are given, meaning is
imparted by action, and more often than not, by violence. Slowly the
direction becomes clear for the patient viewer as the storyline explores the darkness and brutality of the wilderness at night, a world where the rule of law ends at the outskirts
of town. A world where shamanism and the spirit world is very much alive, and the sense that something strange is about to happen builds with every scene.

Eddie Izzard, Ernest Borgnine, and Juliette Lewis all appear, each
providing stellar performances and helping provide accessibility to
what is, at least for Americans, a difficult film. It was deemed
so impenetrable for the US that the film’s title was even changed
to the rather predictable ‘Renegade.’ But while this film is
slow and at times disorienting, the pay-off both in terms of story
and visual effects is astounding.

Blueberry

Download:


Blueberry (Torrrent)