What You Need to Know About The Fall Boys And Dizzy In Paradise
I ran into this title recently and ended up digging into it. It turns out to be a French film, originally titled "Les Chouans," directed by Pierre Jolivet, released in 1994. The international English release used the title The Fall Boys and Dizzy In Paradise, which is a strange combination that doesn't really reflect what the movie is about. It's a historical drama set during the French Revolution, based on Honoré de Balzac's novel "Les Chouans." The story follows a royalist woman and a republican soldier caught up in the Vendée uprising. If you are looking for this film, finding it is the harder part. It never got a major wide release in the US or UK. The DVD situation is messy. Most copies floating around are region 2 imports, which means a region-free player or a modded device is necessary unless you live in Europe. I spent about an hour tracking down a subtitled copy before I found one that wasn't audio-only or had terrible compression. Here is what I recommend for anyone actually trying to watch it:
- Search by the original French title. "Les Chouans" will get you more results than the English title, which appears to be a distribution choice that nobody really remembered.
- Check Criterion and Kino Lorber first. They occasionally handle lesser-known French period pieces. As of my last check, they had not released it, but smaller labels sometimes pick these up.
- YouTube and Vimeo have full uploads, but quality varies wildly. I found a 720p version on YouTube that was passable. There was also a bluray rip floating on a French forum, but downloading from random sites like that carries risk.
- Prime Video and Apple TV have it available for rent in some regions. Not all regions. If you are in the US, it might show up under the French title rather than the English one.
One thing I ran into that nobody mentions: the film stars Fanny Ardant and Vincent Perez. If you search for those actors plus "Les Chouans," you will find much more accurate results than searching for the English title. The English title seems to be a translation that was probably assigned by a distributor who did not read the source material. The runtime is approximately 107 minutes. The pacing is deliberate, which is typical for French period dramas from the mid-90s. If you are expecting action, you will be disappointed. It is mostly conversations in rooms, marches through forests, and political tension. The cinematography by Patrick Ghislain is decent, with a lot of natural light and muted earth tones that fit the period. I would also note a practical issue I encountered: the French Audio track on the one DVD I found had some dialogue that was nearly inaudible, especially during outdoor scenes with wind. I ended up using the English subtitles, which were actually fairly accurate, rather than the French dub that was included. This is worth mentioning because a lot of older French releases include poor quality dubs that people end up watching by accident.
Overall, it is a competent adaptation but not a standout film. The Balzac novel is more interesting than this version of it. If you are a fan of French historical cinema from that era, it is worth a watch, but do not expect anything groundbreaking. The main challenge is simply finding a decent copy. Focus your search on the original French title and the lead actors, and you will save yourself a lot of time. There is no official streaming presence on major platforms in the US market as far as I can tell. That means your options are limited to physical media, digital rental in select regions, or uploading from user sources. Budget accordingly if you want to collect a physical copy, since imported DVDs can run $20 to $40 depending on condition and region compatibility.
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