MENTAL COMBAT

French hip hop comedy, Dans tes Rêves, now on DVD
Directed by Denis Thybaud . Studio Canal. 2005

First time director makes comedy about a fella named Ixe who wants to follow his passion for rapping. Along the way we see him stumble & survive the pitaflls while he tries to live his dreams. Something like that anyway. Kool Shen, a member of famed crew NTM, was the consultant for the film. The most well known actor would be the always lovely Béatrice Dalle. The script was written by French emcee, Oxmo Puccino. So I upped a track he did with High & Mighty & a track that appeared on Kool Shen's new album Dernier. Typical of most French releases...No Subtitles.

French information here, including trailers, snippets & the first 5 mins of the film.

• LINK: Amazon France - Dans tes Rêves DVD
• MP3: KOOL SHEN ft. OXMO PUCINNO - Dernier Round
• MP3: OXMO PUCINNO ft. HIGH & MIGHTY - Dans Quatre Jours

I might as well mention another one...
Le Défi (Dance Challenge)
Directed by Blanca Li. 2002

Dancer/actress Blanca Li wrote & directed this film about a young breakdancer who wants to win the dance competition with his crew, The Urban Cyber Breakers. He has consistent conflicts with his mother, so he decides to run away from home. It's a fairly silly film, but does have some nicely choreographed dance scenes. Though there are a couple of really bad CGI type sequences that suck. Though discard the really rubbishy comedy & you are left with some decent looking b-boy moments. Of note is that American 80s b-boy, Soda Pop makes an appearance & some of the original music in the film is by Matthew Herbert. Naturally no subs with this release either. I saw it on SBS TV & I don't see it getting general release, so I should just tape it next time it comes around.

• LINK: Amazon France - Le Défi DVD