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An ex-convict named Vic (Christophe Laubion) decides to play an unexpected visit on his brother Gino (played by Laubion without a moustache). Both were involved in the crime that sent Vic to the slammer, but Gino ended up with his own tavern, a live-in girlfriend named Margot (Marie Vernalde) and a son.

When Vic tells Gino that he envies his older brother’s seemingly easy life, Gino offers to trade identities with him.

Vic accepts the offer and quickly discovers that he was better off in prison. As Vic should have probably guessed, Gino isn’t as upright as he appears and has betrayed others the way he’s betrayed Vic.

Gino owes a fortune to a couple of mob goons (both played by Dominique Bettenfeld, “La vie en rose”). These fellows remind deadbeats of their obligations by letting them know what sort of coffin they’ll provide if the money isn’t forthcoming. They promise get one that’s just a few centimeters too small. This means the borrower may get dismembered to fit.

That’s actually the nicest thing these guys do. And now that Vic is literally in Gino’s shoes, he’s stuck with the large debt and a short deadline.

"Magic Kisa" starts off bleak and gets darker as it goes on, but Saliva and his crew keep the film from sneaking into nihilism by loading the film with a satanic humor. The twin mobsters read through a catalog of caskets as if they were shopping for cars. Saliva also has some intriguing plot twists that jolt viewers the way they frustrate Vic.

On a technical level, the film is astonishing because the filmmakers have figured out how to create dual characters for Laubion and Bettenfeld without drawing attention to the fact that each actor is playing two roles.

Casting performers in multiple roles is as old as cinema itself (Buster Keaton played an entire theater in 1921’s "The Play House"), but Saliva and the other filmmakers come up with ingenious ways to make Laubion and Bettenfeld interact with their cinematic doppelgangers as if it were happening in real time.

None of this would work if the actors weren’t up to the challenge. Take a close look at Laubion’s face during his domestic scenes with Vernalde, and you’ll catch a look of bewilderment as Vic discovers how complicated Gino’s life really is.

With only 30 minutes, Saliva’s pacing is appropriately taut and brisk. Nonetheless, there’s more wit and imagination in this offering than in a lot of features.

link directly to this review at https://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=19724&reviewer=382
originally posted: 09/10/09 21:36:02
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