This black-and-white documentary movie was the first effort as a g'filmmaker by Jean Vigo and he was only in his early-mid-20s when he shot this 22-minute movie. Due to his untimely death at the age of 29, he only made two other short films and one feature film afterward. Yet this is enough for some to call him one of the best directors of all time. I cannot agree with that. I watched all his short films and I have to say I am fairly unimpressed. Also I cannot see a deep message in this one here. It's really only a documentary about the city of Nice where we see its monuments, its sights, its buildings and of course the people from Nice. I wonder why Vigo chose this city on the Cote d'Azur and not Paris, the place where he was born and where he died. Anyway, the people in here look so happy most of the time. The had no clue what was going to happen in the next 15 years yet. It's probably better that way. What I found interesting about this documentary is that it was co-written by Boris Kaufman and it's his only credit as a writer. Kaufman is a cinematographer who worked on all Vigo films and later won an Academy Award for his cinematography for "On the Waterfront". Anyway, I do not recommend this Nice documentary. It's really not that interesting to watch in my opinion.
Review of À Propos de Nice
