Augustin, King of Kung-Fu

Augustin, roi du kung-fu

1999·84'

Anne Fontaine

Comedy

★ 7.3

Letterboxd TMDB #64919

The solitary and largely self-contained Augustin (Jean-Chretien Sibertin Blanc), on obscure young actor of bit-parts and advertisements, has but one ambition - to play the lead role in a Kung Fu epic. But hours of Kung Fu practice alone in his room are not enough. Augustin knows he must pack up and start a new life in China... or at least that part of China within bicycling distance: Chinatown in south-east Paris. There he meets Ling (Maggie Cheung), a young Chinese woman who practices ocupuncture, and little by little, Ling's needles awaken emotions in Augustin that his virginal body had never dreamed of. Where will this lead him? To Kung Fu stardom, maybe not, but to another destiny, a quirky but logical continuation of the same dream.

Cast

Bernard Campan Boutinot

Jean-Chrétien Sibertin-Blanc Augustin

Paulette Dubost Madame Haton

Maggie Cheung Ling

Jackie Chan [archive footage]

Darry Cowl René

Pascal Bonitzer The movie director

Patricia Dinev Chantal

Fanny Ardant Fanny Ardant

André Dussollier André Dussollier

Marc Hoang Ballet soloist

Ham Chau Luong Kung-fu master in the dream