Le Nouveau Film De Luc Besson - Adele Blanc-Sec

By Owain Paciuszko / June 25, 2011

Arriving over at Yahoo France is a full-length trailer for Luc Bessons' return to the live-action director's after five years. The film, Les Aventures Extraordinaires d'Adele Blanc-Sec, is an adaptation of the comic books by Jacques Tardi which stars Louise Bourgoin as the titular Adele, here's the synopsis translated courtesy of Babelfish:

'In this year 1912, Adele Blanc-Sec, young intrepid journalist, is ready with very to arrive at her ends, including unloading in Egypt and finding themselves with the catches with mummies in any kind. At the same moment with Paris, c' is panic! An egg of ptérodactyle, old man of 136 d' million; years, mysteriously hatched on a rack of the l' and Botanical garden; bird sows terror in the sky of the capital. Not what to destabilize Adele Blanc-Sec, whose adventures reveal d' well; others extraordinary surprises.'

The trailer is bright and breezy, featuring visuals that recall a turn-of-the-centuryThe Fifth Element, with hints of Jean Pierre Jeunet's A Very Long Engagement. Packing lavish production values alongside a quirky plot-line that mixes Historical fantasy into reality a la Hellboy, this looks like Besson on fine playful form. There are also definite shades of Raiders of the Lost Ark, especially in the snaggle toothed villain, though the setting is pre-World War I. Tardi's comic began in 1972, then as a serialised strip in French newspapers four years later. English translations finally emerged in the early and mid-nineties, with the plot of Bessons' film seeming to come from the titles; The Demon of the Eiffel Tower and The Mad Scientist & Mummies On Parade. With producers credits making up much of Besson's recent CV, including I Love You Philip Morris, Taken and From Paris With Love, alongside helming the CG animated trilogy of 'Minimoys' films, Besson has been sadly absent from live-action film-making since 2005's muddled Angel-A, which followed a six year gap after The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc. Hopefully the light humour, off-beat action and epic production of Adele has re-ignited Besson's fires and sees a return to doing what he does best.