CQ on DVD

CQ is in interesting and amusing flick from Roman Coppola, son of the great Francis Ford.

CQ is a little bit art film, a little bit sci fi, a little bit comic. This might sound like a little bit of a mish mash, and to be fair it is to a certain extent - but that doesn’t really do justice to this gorgeously conceived and shot movie, a film that clearly shows there’s another Coppola to reckon with.

Jeremy Davies stars as Paul Ballard, an American filmmaker wannabe working on a sci fi adventure (a la Barbarella) in 1969. It’s a good time to be young, talented, and in Paris, but he’s having trouble getting his head around life. After working on the film during the day, he comes home at night to his girlfriend Marlene (Elodie Bouchez) and, more importantly to him, his film camera. He’s turning his life into a cinema verite thing he hopes will be a personal film, a statement. What it is, is almost a film-based diary, but he has high hopes.

Then the sci fi film’s director (Gerard Depardieu) gets fired and a foppish oaf who has made a name for himself as a small time horror director gets the nod to take over - and Paul is given the task of showing the guy the ropes on this particular production.

Eventually, Paul gets his break and is asked to finish the film anyway, sending him into panic mode as his creativity and credibility are put to the test.

CQ is a very different movie, with its shifting points of view from the first person of Paul’s home movie to the “reality” of Paul’s life and the “unreality” of the sci fi film Code Name Dragonfly, but it’s never really confusing and never boring at all. Each “part” of the film has its own look as well, from the black and white artiness of the home movie to the overblown 1960’s look of Dragonfly and the more conventional look of today’s film. It’s great!

And it’s a marvelously crafted film, a labor of love that belies the film’s rather silly premise. The actors are all very good in their roles (especially Depardieu as the whacked out ex-director), and watch for a delicious appearance by John Philip Law, who fans of cinefantastique will remember as Pygar the Angel in Barbarella and Sinbad in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. Another great performance comes from Giancarlo Giannini, who plays an over the top Dino De Laurentiis-type producer - and Billy Zane also appears to be having a good time as the male lead in the Dragonfly film-within-the-film.

The DVD is also delicious. The picture is outstanding, with a sharp and clean image and gorgeous colors that really highlight the wonderfully 60’s-cheesy special effects from the Dragonfly movie. You also get a choice between anamorphic widescreen (16x9 TV compatible) and Pan&Scan which, if you just have to offer Pan&Scan, is the way to do it.

Audio is Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, and it’s excellent as well, with good use of the rear channels.

There are plenty of extras, too, most of which are on the reverse side of the disc. On the movie’s side there’s a running commentary featuring director Coppola and cinematographer Robert Yeoman, and it’s a dandy, with plenty of interesting inside info about the movie (the opening American Zoetrope logo, for example, was exhumed from history’s dustbin; it had only been used once before: on George Lucas’ first film THX 1138).

Flip over the disc and you get a pile of stuff. First up, you get a chance to audition both versions of Dragonfly (Paul’s and the original director’s) - presented in glorious Dragon color - and Paul’s has an optional commentary by “Dragonfly” herself Angela Lindvall. Paul’s is the more polished of the two, and at about 15 minutes, the longer, but you’ll have to judge for yourself which one’s better.

There’s also a nifty “Making of” featurette, 6 pretty interesting featurettes, four short “personal filmmaking documentaries, a deleted scene, “Easter egg hidden gallery,” photo gallery, “Mellow Live in Japan” musical video, and the theatrical trailer.

That’s a lot of stuff for a movie that, to be fair, kind of sneaks up on one out of nowhere, but it’s all good stuff.

And we hope we’ll be hearing from Mr. Coppola again soon.

CQ, from MGM Home Video
88 min. anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1), 16x9 TV compatible/ Pan&Scan, Dolby Digital 5.1 surround
Starring Jeremy Davis, Angela Lindvall, Elodie Bouchez, Gerard Depardieu
Produced by Gary Marcus
Written and Directed by Roman Coppola

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