Audience Member
Il film non ha una storia ben definita, ma lavora per immagini.
Gérard LaFayette è un giovanotto affascinante che vive in un seminterrato di una metastorica New York. Lavora come elettrotecnico in un museo delle cere su Roma antica, tenuto da un melanconico direttore di probabile origine italiana, tale Andreas Flaxman. Come hobby aiuta un gruppo di teatro off di attiviste femministe, delle quali la bella Angelica è di lui innamorata.
Ama anche passare del tempo con un gruppetto di anziani di cui è "protettore": l'anarchico individualista italiano Luigi Nocello, il suonatore nero Miko, l'evanescente Robin e la bella signora Toland. Proprio durante una passeggiata con loro, lungo le spiagge del fiume Hudson, Luigi scopre, vicino alla carcassa morta di King Kong, uno scimmiotto neonato, a cui Gérard si affeziona talmente da adottarlo, considerandolo suo figlio, battezzandolo col nome di Cornelio.
Luigi, sentimentale e rancoroso, si suicida, impiccandosi. Angelica, avendo precedentemente violentato Gérard, ne rimane incinta, ma il ragazzo rifiuta alcuna responsabilità. A casa, LaFayette scopre Cornelio divorato dai topi. Stravolto, cerca riparo dal suo amico Flaxman, che non appare per nulla comprensivo. Un po' in maniera casuale, un po' voluto, i due periscono nell'incendio del museo.
Nella scena finale, Angelica e sua figlia giocano sulla spiaggia.
[it.wikipedia.org]
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
01/18/23
Full Review
Audience Member
....yeah. So, anyway, gender roles are reversed, Gerard Depardieu is raped by a feminist theatre troupe 'cause they want to know what it's like to rape' (not be raped as that would be unpleasant) and then he finds King Kong's son by the corpse of said Kong (Dino DeLaurentis Kong no doubt). That's about 22 minutes in. Uh...then...uh...you get to see Depardieu naked, if that's your thing. He's young enough and speaks English with a thick accent. I'm sure that's a fetish for someone. Everything is a fetish now.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
01/18/23
Full Review
walter m
"Bye Bye Monkey" starts with Lafayette(Gerard Depardieu) waking to a New York City being fumigated for rats. That's not all as he also has trouble selling fake leopard skin to Flaxman(James Coco) for his wax museum. Lafayette becomes a guinea pig for the women's theatre group where he works the lights to determine whether a man can be raped. Angelica(Gail Lawrence) demonstrates in the affirmative. At first incensed, he calms down enough to inspect King Kong's carcass where Luigi(Marcello Mastroianni) finds a baby monkey which he gives to Lafayette for safe keeping because of his allergies.
I guess if one were so inclined, one could think of "Bye Bye Monkey" as a quasi-unofficial sequel to the 1976 remake, especially considering the body of the beast in the shadows of the World Trade Center.(I'd also work a Dave Kingman reference in here but he was on the Cubs in 1978. Darn it.) What is really important about "Bye Bye Monkey," a provocative and affectionate black comedy, is that it is about the little people on the ground going about their lives as tumultous events happen above them, most of whom like King Kong are from far-off lands. It is the rats who are native to New York and will be here long after we are all gone. In this topsy-turvy world, Lafayette occasionally takes on animal characteristics and, as Angelica points out, is more of a mother than a father to the baby monkey.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Pretty boring, but interestingly weird in a Robert Downey Sr kinda way.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
02/17/23
Full Review
Audience Member
I loved Ferreri's La Grande Bouffe. I love Mastroianni in everything he's ever done. I thought finding a dead King Kong and his baby would have to be in some way interesting. It was not. It was so not. It starts off with a bunch of feminist performers raping Depardieu. Then Depardieu walks around with his junk hanging out a lot and talks by blowing through a whistle. He takes in the chimp. The girl who raped him moves in with him. Discovers she's pregnant. Rats eat his monkey. There is some sort of monologue about ancient Rome and Civilization. Some characters die. I have no idea what just happened. The cinematography was nice...
Rated 1/5 Stars •
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
02/14/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Ferreri's first English-language film... is more of a collection of disjointed ideas than an actual story.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
01/25/23
Full Review
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