Ricky (2009)

An Exercise In Nonsense

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

It is easy to dismiss Francois Ozon's fantasy film "Ricky", which seems to have been overlooked by most of his fans. There are subtext subtleties which point this is no ordinary fairy tale devised by a man that has tackled families in crisis before, as it is the case with Katie, a struggling single mother with a daughter Lisa, of about ten years old, who is wiser than her years. Perhaps the director wanted to explore with this new venture how the working classes deal with their ordinary lives.Katie who works in a chemical plant, meets a new fellow worker, the Spaniard Paco, a good nature man who likes her immediately. Before long, Paco moves in Katie's council estate flat. Lisa is reluctant, at first to accept the new man in her mother's life. Nothing is revealed as to whom is Lisa's father. It does not take long for Katie to realize she is pregnant. One night, at dinner, Katie has prepared a roasted chicken. Paco, cutting the bird, asks Lisa what part of it she wants to eat. The wings, she replies. This incident bears into the story later on.The arrival of little Ricky is welcomed by all. The infant is a problem baby. He does not appear to be like others, but he appears to be healthy. Katie becomes alarmed when she notices bruises on Ricky's back, and becomes suspicious of Paco's care. Paco is enraged when confronted by her. He decides to go away, leaving his newly found family to fend for themselves. When the bruises are examined by a doctor, it is clear the boy is developing wings. What's a mother to do?Little Ricky is in fact developing small wings. They catch him over a wardrobe; little by little he is flying all over the apartment, even bumping into the glass of a window. Paco returns to find this new development. He has an idea to help with the costs they will incur if they want the baby to have an operation. How about get a friendly journalist to take their case? In fact, that only serves to get media attention when they did not want. The mere mention of this turns Katie off; how could Paco be thinking about commercialism at a time like this? After the family decides to cooperate, they come outside the housing complex holding Ricky. Paco, tying a cord around Ricky's ankles to secure he will not fly away, gives it to Katie, who in a moment of not paying attention, lets the cord loose and the infant flies away. What is a mother to do next? Missing Ricky so much, she has decided she is going to give a try on motherhood, as we watch her in bed visibly pregnant!Francois Ozon obviously wanted to tell a story that was entertaining as well as making a statement while he was at it. This film is not easy to grasp. All the elements are there and perhaps in being ambiguous, he wanted to challenge the viewer. He certainly had a way to get the attention of an audience, although it is a complex metaphor about a family and their environment and how the arrival of the new man upsets the universe between mother and a daughter that is more mature than her years.Akexandra Lamy is perfect as Katie. She is a capable actress with a natural intelligence in her approach as the mother. Little Melusine Mayance surprises with the way she plays Lisa. This girl is not obnoxious in contrast with other screen young actresses; she appears to be a natural. Sergi Lopez is the affable Paco, the immigrant who is rewarded with an instant family in his adopted country. Mr. Lopez keeps giving strong performances. Arthur Peyret is adorable as Ricky.

OK,a winged Ricky...whatever the metaphor is, has been designed to be the shock and climax of the movie. And what does Ozon have to offer after that? Virtually nothing... some big steps back in Ozon's career... still a good decoupage and some memorable scenes. ( I particularly like Lisa chopping the chicken's wings,which intensifies the threatening atmosphere, Ozon wants to imply... the light of insight on Katie's face when she was in the lake..resemblance of Ricky to his father as far as hair growth is concerned!...contrast of the music and rapid growth of the wing...)But,looking forward to see Ozon's back to his basics

As I read the other comments, I am surprised that I had a completely different feel about and interpretation of this film. As I see it, the entire part of the movie in which winged Ricky is portrayed only happens in the mind of the mother. A frustrated and desperate re-invention of how her life could be.If you will bear with me, I will try to explain this and offer some distinct scenes and pointers in the movie that corroborate this interpretation.In the first scene the mother is seen speaking with a social welfare counselor. She states that her partner has left her for a week and that she is desperate and willing to give up her child to foster-care. In the remainder of the film, when she is raising Ricky, she was at it as a single mum, for at least a couple of months and doing so happily. Why would she throw that all out after one week of being alone and after losing a previous child. Which she handled with grace.Secondly, at the start of the second scene, it is clear that the rest of the movie is a flashback of the first scene. This is made clear by the text on the screen that says "A few months earlier" when the second scene starts. However the time-lines of the remainder of the movie cover much more. It starts at the conception of Ricky, the birth of Ricky (+9 months), Ricky growing, flying, and eventually walking (+ 12 months), the mother pregnant again and giving birth to another kid (+9 months). That spans at least two and a half years.If however it is only Ricky that is born, and the mother that has a nervous and financial breakdown, while imagining how life could be if some fantastical thing would have happened, then the time-line make much more sense. The fantasy of a flying baby and consequently the staying together of the family is her way of escaping the harsh reality. This also explain her lack of surprise and her readily accepting her loss.A winged infant that flies away and still survives and is nourished in the wild, is symbolic for the outside world, and her desire, out of desperation to give up her child to foster-care and seeing it prosper.The feel and the rhythm of the film are very much in tune with this interpretation.But then again, I could be totally wrong. ;)

This movie was a bit disappointing, Ozon being one of my favorite directors especially for Swimming Pool among others.It starts as a French family drama, turns into a Hollywood like movie you would normally expect from Spielberg in the supermarket scene and then back to a French movie. I even thought maybe Ozon is considering some Hollywood adventure! The movie goes into the life of a single mother who is stuck in life and could only turn it around with a miracle. And that is exactly what happens, after she starts dating another worker in the factory she gets pregnant and Ricky, a super cute baby, is born.Ozon takes on French workers' stagnant, even hopeless life on a warmer tone than you normally would expect in a such story. Their life is no fun and only miracles and disasters can force them to rethink their situations.Editing of the movie was the weak link, as it seemed like the director wanted to get the film flowing by editing and not naturally by the storyline. That approach did not really pay off. It gave me the impression that the movie was shot hastily.Yet, I was lucky to see the film during its Istanbul Film festival screening and attended the Q&A session after the film. I was glad to see him as a director who likes experimenting with film, even after so many achievements so far. He is a natural movie maker that gets emotions across the screen easily. So I will be on the outlook for his next movie as usual.