Asterix Versus Caesar

Astérix et la surprise de César; animated adventure comedy, France, 1985; D: Gaëtan Brizzi, Paul Brizzi, S: Roger Carel, Pierre Tornade, Pierre Mondy, Séverine Morisot
50 BC. In the only enclave not conquered by the Roman Empire, a Gaul village, Obelix meets the blond Falbala and falls in love with her. Asterix is worried because Obelix doesn't show interest in anything and acts distracted, even falling into depression when he finds out she is already engaged with Tragicomix. But as Falbala and Tragicomix are kidnapped by Roman soldiers and sent to Africa as slaves, Asterix and Obelix set out to save them. The young couple falls into custody of the Bedouins, and in the end are sent to Rome to be sacrificed in the arena for Caesar's birthday. Luckily, Asterix and Obelix enlist as Roman soldiers and save them.

Following the process where every new Asterix film was better than the previous one, the 4th film, "Asterix Versus Caesar", once again topped the previous film and hit the stride of the series: the greatest Asterix film ever made. From there on, the whole series went downhill. Already from the magnificent opening song "Asterix est la" one can guess this is going to be something special, and so it's hard to understand why some fans are degrading this film every once in a while: besides offering adventure, humor, crystal clear animation and charm, combined with excellent directing from Brizzi brothers and a meticulous reconstruction of the ancient Roman world, the story also contains something no other Astrix film ever had before: real pathos, real emotions. From the tender, melancholic scene where Obelix meets the blond girl Falbala and falls in love with her the story surprisingly becomes very emotional, making a romantic turn and showing the once cheerful hero distracted by love, whereas the enchating score by Vladimir Cosma is one of the finest pieces of film music of all time. 

The contrast between the naturally drawn, serious couple Falbala/Tragicomix and the caricature, childish friends Asterix/Obelix creates a special spark, while the story works although it's comprised out of two incompatible comics, "Asterix the Legionary" and "Asterix the Gladiator". However, there is again enough comedy here: Asterix is knocking on the door of the Roman office, in order to find out where the couple was deported to, but the annoyed official sarcastically shouts: "Why don't you break the door?!" Cue Asterix indeed breaking the door, which falls on the official. After reading the documents, Obelix goes: "Roman, Latin... that's all Greek to me!" After the Gauls defeat the Roman soldiers, their commander goes: "Veni, vidi, non vici". And there is also the classic French jab at the British kitchen: nobody in the Roman legion likes the food, except the British recruit who eats the entire plate, declaring it "delicious". The only bad thing is the ending that dropped the romantic subplot all of a sudden. The sequence where Asterix is trapped in a jail that is flooded by the storm while Obelix is desperately trying to find and save him is the darkest and the most poetic one in the whole Asterix serial, sending shivers down the spine, and the final chariot race, a loving spoof of "Ben-Hur", shows brilliant example of rhythm and style. A shining little film, and a nice display of the magic of animation.

Grade:+++