Monsieur Mayonnaise (2016)

Monsieur Mayonnaise (2016). 1h 35m

“Monsieur Mayonnaise (2016) is an Australian documentary that was co-produced, written, and directed by Trevor Graham. The film is about the graphic artist Philippe Mora. It follows Mora as he looks into his familyu0026#39;s past, and turns what he learns into a graphic novel.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe publicity for the film emphasizes the true fact that Morau0026#39;s father, Dominic Mora, was a heroic member of the French Resistance. In fact, he and Marcel Marceau found a way to use baguettes with mayonnaise loaded with garlic to send secret documents. Although this is fascinating, itu0026#39;s actually just a small part of the movie. (However, itu0026#39;s where the title Monsieur Mayonnaise originated.) u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMorau0026#39;s mother and father moved to Australia after the war ended, and were part of a very active artistic circle. All this is converted by Mora into his graphic novel.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe film struck me as entertaining, but too self-referential and self-serving. Mora is an interesting artist, but graphic, comic-book style art is not my thing. His father was truly a hero, but the book Mora created wasnu0026#39;t about heroism, it was about Mora and his family. It wasnu0026#39;t a bad film, but it wasnu0026#39;t a great film either.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWe saw the movie in the beautiful JCC Hart Theater, as part of the outstanding Rochester International Jewish Film Festival. We saw 12 films at the festival, most of which were truly excellent. For me this movie was the weak link, but not everyone is going to be enchanted by every film.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe RIJFF itself is worth a special trip if you live anywhere in Upstate New York. Get on their mailing list, because some of the films will be shown again in the next 12 months. Plan to attend RIJFF in 2018 if you can. Youu0026#39;ll be happy you did.”