Alexander Moon This movie is a wonderful tribute to who is, in my humble opinion, the most brilliant singer AND dancer of all time in France aka the legendary Claude François. A consummate performer and perfectionnist, Claude enlightened and impressed forever millions of french people with his feel good, entertaining and ahead of its time blend of music inspired by the US music from both the 60s and 70s. He was way more than a musician in France, a super popular icon of french culture. His tragic death at age 33 in 1978 made millions of people bleeding around the world and achieved to make him entering Musical Hall Of Fame forever.With this in mind, french writer Yann Moix wrote a compelling book (released at the start of the 21th century) about a clone of the late Claude called Bernard Frederic.Somebody that was literally a "reincarnation" of Mr François. The book met great success and the french writer became a director to adapt his own creation in 2004.Podium was the name of an avant gardiste magazine about french musical stars of the 60s created by Claude François himself so the name of both the book and the flick is a great tribute to him as well.Talking about tribute, this movie is a wonderful tribute to any "Cloclo" (his legendary nickname) fan. It features prominently a lot of his best to most obscure work like "Chanson Populaire", "Si j'avais un marteau" as well as his disco era "Magnolia Forever" and of course the masterpiece he gave to Paul Anka and Frank Sinatra in his latter days, "Comme D'Habitude" (known as "My Way" in the US).Not only Mr Moix is showing a great knowledge about Cloclo universe and music but he is also got tremendous flair when it came to cast the one actor that could fill Mr François legendary shoes.He picked Belgium prodigy Benoit Poelvoorde and what a perfect pick it was !In Fact, Yann revealed he wrote the role while thinking about Benoit and he personally asked Mr Poelvoorde to re-record himself the songs of Claude as well as taking hard working dancing lessons !First unsure about this since he has never ever sang at all in his whole life, Benoit finally accepted, under French Singer professor Richard Cross and Dancing teacher Mia Frey to do so.Being the perfectionnist and crazy talent he is, Benoit Poelvoorde ended up giving me massive chills on any of his singing-dancing performances that are enlightening this wonderful homage to one of my fave musicians EVER.Like another Cloclo impersonator in the movie stated (his main nemesis who is jealous of him) "he is not an impersonator ! he is a REINCARNTAION ! ".Benoit didn't play Cloclo here, He was him from the first to the last shot.This is the performance of a lifetime that should have gotten him many awards , especially the equivalent of the Oscars in France (called "les césars") but he only got a nomination and lost the trophy to someone less deserving...The rest of the cast is extremely good, especially one Jean Paul Rouve as another french legendary musician impersonator, Michel Polnareff (if Benoit sounds and dances like Claude, Jean Paul totally looks like Michel , body and face wise !).The direction of the movie is top notch and the costumes, locations and choregraphies are perfect.For his first time behind a camera, Yann Moix shows a lot of panache and flair with very original shots angles and a lot of dynamic.It's something to write an entertaining book but it takes a lot of guts and virtuosity to adapt it visually and musically like he did !Mad props to anyone involved here, this is easily the best french movie of the 21 century not called "Rio Nest Of Spies" and Amelie !A timeless classic that surely made dancing and singing Mr Claude François in the deep blue sky in Heaven !Magnolia ? Forever !

bertrand-ulrich Now this is a movie that you would enjoy, if it were achieved. Somehow, the writers seem to have been afraid of upsetting the Cloclo fans, which leads to an average story, with ingredients such as cheap emotion, irregular characters, endless dancing. It reminds me of a '50s science fiction movie, in which the whole plot was actually based upon the disguise of the stunt (aka the extra-terrestrial usually). In the case of "Podium", the over-exploited leitmotiv is two dressed up characters being stupid. The first comedy without a gag, if not the first, the most over-rated surely. BUT, the actors do a great job, the special effects (actually "effect") are convincing. Not a total waste of time.

dbdumonteil Bernard Frédéric (Benoît Poelvoorde) devoted his life to his biggest icon Claude François, perhaps the most famous mainstream French singer in the seventies. To fully live his passion and his admiration for him, he organized provincial tours in which he sang with female dancers "Cloclo"'s most popular songs, flanked by his associate Couscous who assured the first parts of his shows, dressed as Michel Polnareff's double. But today, galvanized by his wife Véro (Julie Depardieu) who forced him to choose between her or his god, his once exciting life got bogged down in a humdrum one. An employee in a bank, he also lives in a modest suburban house until one day, his former chum approaches him again to prompt him to attend a TV show about celebrity doubles. Frédéric can't withstand to the desire to attend it, dressed as Claude François. But he would have to defy the promise he made to Véro who might see this as the last straw about the future of her relationship with her mercurial man...What can be said about a film which enjoyed a conspicuous publicity campaign and made it a household name virtually everywhere in France? Well, visually, it's an appealing film. The director Yann Moix retorted to a quite kitsch cinematography with often gaudy colors to recreate the aura of the Claude François mania in the seventies. A mania which is still vivacious today in Frédéric's mind and in his relentless training to be on this vital TV show about double celebrities. A quirky directing with split-screens which includes authentic footage dating from the seventies and an epileptic editing consolidates this whimsical menu. One word about the last sequence: Moix doesn't tap overflowing effects to leave the viewer speechless about the harrowing vibe the scene conveys and one forgets its formulaic character.Then, the scenario seems to have been sedately written. It's true that the scriptwriters including Olivier Dazat follow an ultra-mapped scheme to tell Frédéric's efforts to reach the TV show which seems to be the most crucial thing on earth for him. However, there's more on the paper and to the picture than meets the eye. This scenario has its moments and they are numerous like when it comes to showcase and construe Frédéric's apparently simple but complex persona. He's a lackluster man when Claude François isn't on his mind but when his passion for Claude François has the upper hand and his determination to reform his female dance band make his demeanor with his surrounding hateful, obnoxious, on the brink of the unacceptable as the sequences when he selects his female dancers and then asks her questions (he has all the answers) about his god bear witness. But he's especially guided by his former tour companion, Couscous, deemed as disreputable by Véro. In a way, this hare-brained Polnareff's double is his evil genius because he indirectly jeopardizes Frédéric's couple to make him resume his one-time favorite activities. It's all the more serious as Véro is deeply enamored of her man. Moreover, does headstrong Frédéric's imagination play tricks on him? Is the sequence during which he's phoned by Claude François a dream or an hallucination? So, the scriptwriters have penned a cohesive screenplay which concerns nearly all of us, at least the ones who have heroes in any domain in life. To which extent, can we go to fully identify oneself with a celebrity for whom one is in awe? Could it make us cut off from the reality? Doesn't one risk a split personality?"Podium" was basically a novel written by Moix himself for Benoît Poelvoorde to convince him to transpose it to the silver screen and to act in it. It bore fruit. The Belgian actor, once revealed with the half-gruesome, half-wacky "C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous" (1992) carries an important part of the film on his shoulders and his input both in the film and in his role is visible. His charisma, François' songs he heartily sings, the choreography are reproduced with painstaking application. But the rest of the cast isn't sacrificed. Julie Depardieu, (Gérard's daughter) acts her role with reserve and self-control and deftly circumvents the drawbacks her role was tending. Jean-Paul Rouve, him, keeps a part of mystery to Frédéric's sidekick and Polnareff's double.On the surface, the story of "Podium" smells the reheated but the authors had the gusto to cool it down to better entertain the viewer and to arouse essential questions about his tastes and likes. This a little oddball film should appeal to Poelvoorde's fans and to "Cloclo"'s. And as soon as the film ends, French viewers, be prepared to hum his tunes. All together now: "Alexandrie, Alexandra", "Des Magnolias Par Centaines!" etc...

ldel Very good rhythm, pretty picture, wonderful actors, a lot of humour and some sweet and beautiful moments. So yes, it's a great movie and it's worth to see it! I'm not at all a fan of Claude François (I'm more into rock and jazz) but this movie gave me the will to discover this singer...it's quite weird... Anyway, Benoît is fantastic, very moving. Julie is sublime. Jean-Paul is perfect as usual. And there must be some future cult quotes ;)Well done to all the cast, the crew and Yann Moix!Rad ^__^