« Warning: all the scenes of this documentary are completely true, but also completely false, ”we warn from the first images. Do not expect anything, or everything: anyway, “F*ckin ‘Fred, like a leopard”, the “documentary film” with Jonathan Cohen and Orelsan, posted this Thursday on the Amazon Prime Video platform, will delight you.
On a condition. You just have to be lugged by this UFO, between fiction and documentary, staged by Clément Cotentin, the brother of the Caennais rapper. So, prepare to let go and a lot, laugh a lot.
There is still a beginning and a hero … German-Brazilian, a famous F*ckin ‘Fred, a parodic alter from Jonathan Cohen, absurd singer whose performances would make Philippe Katerine’ sweet madness. For fans of the actor of “La Flame”, this wacky character is far from being an unknown.
This energetic invented by Jonathan Cohen in 2020 released a first parodic song, “S*this ma b*te”, on a techno sound of the 1980s. An improvised delirium which becomes viral during confinement, with a version updated for the occasion in “confine it”. Following this buzz, the character with his ridiculous little braids, goes on stage during the last tour of his friend Orelsan, “Civilization Tour”, on several occasions, notably in Bercy, on March 17, 2022. Fans each time as again.
Just to go even further for them, here is this film to tell the rest of the story. She begins at the time of Orelsan’s date in Paris La Défense Arena on September 28, 2023. Turned like a musical documentary, with big interviews, face camera, “Joco” (the nickname of Jonathan Cohen) is disappointed not to be invited to this performance in front of 40,000 people.
A look always at a good distance
He arrives anyway without warning, is embedded in the Gringe Lodge, the rapper’s historic partner, and wins on the scene. All filmed obviously, always camera in the fist. From what to give a very bad idea to Orelsan who offered him a carte blanche for one of his first parts, during a festival in Switzerland in June 2023, after the star Gazo, initially planned, is canceled. Problem: will it be enough to hold twenty minutes on stage? The continuation obviously turns to the generalized galley for our greatest pleasure.
Behind the camera, Clément Cotentin does wonders. Already in the maneuver of the excellent documentary “Show it never to anyone”, the director takes his look, always at a good distance, impeccable to capture the flashes of the master of Impro Jonathan Cohen with his irresistible comic potential, but also the heads of Orelsan, always as nonchalant and exceeded by the situation.
What is true in this UFO? What’s wrong? The crest line is fine, and above all impossible to guess. Real concert images mix with false interviews, with virtuosity. The UFO cannot be explained and lives like a big laugh.