2015 French film
Microbe & Gasoline
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Film poster
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Directed by
| Michel Gondry
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Written by
| Michel Gondry
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Produced by
| Georges Bermann
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Starring
| Ange Dargent
Theophile Baquet
Diane Besnier
Audrey Tautou
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Cinematography
| Laurent Brunet
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Edited by
| Elise Fievet
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Music by
| Jean-Claude Vannier
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Production
companies
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Distributed by
| StudioCanal
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Release date
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- 8 July 2015
(
2015-07-08
)
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Running time
| 103 minutes
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Country
| France
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Language
| French
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Budget
| $4.5 million
[1]
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Box office
| $303,787
[2]
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Microbe & Gasoline
(
French
:
Microbe et Gasoil
) is a 2015 French
dramedy
/
road movie
written and directed by
Michel Gondry
. The
coming-of-age
film follows the adventures of two teenagers who take a road trip in their self-assembled vehicle. The film stars newcomers Theophile Baquet and Ange Dargent along with
Audrey Tautou
.
[3]
It was reviewed favorably by critics.
Plot Summary
[
edit
]
Junior high
friends Daniel ("Microbe") and Theo ("Gasoline") struggle to fit in at school, with the diminutive Daniel often the target of bullies. Diane, a taller classmate, has a crush on him, but both struggle to break the
friend zone
due to Daniel's social awkwardness with women. Theo is a similar misfit, far too analytical for his age.
The two teens also come from difficult homes: Theo's father is harsh and unemotional, while his mother suffers from poor health. Daniel's detached mother, Marie, mistakenly construes her son's longer hair and many friendships with girls as
gender questioning
.
On a whim, the two misfits decide to take a road trip across France, but lack a car and licenses to do so. Theo suggests they build a recreational vehicle powered by a
lawnmower
push power engine
, and a
chassis
consisting of abandoned
scraps
. Daniel assuages Theo's concern about attracting attention by making the contraption double as a garden shed. The end product - while crudely built - is functional.
Daniel and Theo make observations on themselves and life throughout the trip, with an emphasis on sex and relationships. They also encounter various characters and situations along the way, some humorous (two police officers stopping to take
selfies
in front of the wheeled conveyance), while others are frightening (a childless, lonely couple attempting to hold the boys as captives), provocative (Daniel getting a haircut at a
brothel
run by the
Korean mafia
) or tense (gangsters connected to the brothel pursuing the boys for an inflated debt).
The duo fall out when Theo discovers Daniel's sole motivation for the trip was to impress Diane at her family's lakeside retreat. At about the same time, their make-shift vehicle is found charred, as authorities assumed it was part of a nearby
gypsy
settlement. Because the fire didn't damage the engine, the pair are able to operate the vehicle a little while longer until a descent towards a cliff forces them to ditch it. They ultimately get home by conning their way onto an airplane and train.
Upon arriving back to
Versailles
, the boys are met with hostility from their respective families: Theo's mother has died and his father decides to send his
runaway son
to a reformative institution in
Grenoble
. Daniel returns to school and is tested by one of his bullies. The tormentor remarks how Daniel has now become a better person without his only friend by his side. Daniel responds by putting a grappling hold around the ruffian's neck and punching him in the nose, a tactical move Theo taught him.
After being expelled from school, Diane notices Daniel leave the campus with his mother and calls out his name. However, he doesn't respond to her.
Cast
[
edit
]
- Theophile Baquet as Theo Leloir / Gasoil
- Ange Dargent as Daniel Gueret / Microbe
- Audrey Tautou
as Marie-Therese Gueret
- Diane Besnier as Laura
- Vincent Lamoureux as Steve
- Agathe Peigney as Agathe
- Douglas Brosset as Oscar
- Charles Raymond as Kevin
- Ferdinand Roux-Balme as Simon
- Marc Delarue as Romain
- Ely Penh as the gang leader
- Jana Bittnerova as Madame Leloir
- Zimsky as Monsieur Leloir
- Fabio Zenoni as Monsieur Gueret
- Matthias Fortune Droulers as Theo's brother
- Sacha Bourdo
as the Russian teacher
- Laurent Poitrenaux as the dentist
- Etienne Charry as the organiser
- Marie Berto as Carole Raoult
Reception
[
edit
]
On
review aggregator
website
Rotten Tomatoes
, 92% of 60 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "
Microbe and Gasoline
brings Michel Gondry's distinctive gifts to bear on an oft-told tale, with thoroughly charming results."
[4]
Review aggregator
Metacritic
, which uses a
weighted average
, reports 75 out of 100 based on 20 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
[5]
Accolades
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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Documentaries
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Music videos
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