The Grande Odalisque, Olympia, and Wingwomen

A thief in Paris planned to steal some paintings from the Louvre.

After careful planning, he got past security, stole the paintings, and made it safely to his van.

However, he was captured only two blocks away when his van ran out of gas. When asked how he could mastermind such a crime and then make such an obvious error, he replied, 'Monsieur, that is the reason I stole the paintings.'

I had no Monet

To buy Degas

To make the Van Gogh.

I had De Gaulle to post this because I figured I had nothing Toulouse

(swiped from the internet)

Recent news influenced today’s post. On October 19th, eight pieces of the French Crown Jewels were stolen from the Louvre. The robbers, disguised as construction workers, used a monte-meuble (like a hydraulic furniture lift, to access the building from the street. They cut through the glass, tripped the alarm, grabbed nine pieces of jewelry, dropped one of them, and got away. The entire heist took just a few minutes.

As expected, people on social media had a blast with the story making jokes about The Muppets, George Clooney’s Ocean’s 11 crew, and many others.

Days after an image of a nattily dressed man started to circulate with the speculation and a living fan fiction was born that he was a well dressed French detective brought into crack the case.

I immediately thought of a European crime comic I read awhile back called The Grande Odalisque by Jérôme Mulot, Florent Ruppert, and Bastien Vivès.

The Grande Odalisque is a breezy action comic about a dynamic duo (and eventual trio) of women art thieves, Carol and Alex, who glide through the Parisian underworld pulling high end jobs, like robbing the Louvre of a painting.

The pair have been together for ten years. Carol is a little older and is the more grounded of the two. She’s the rock who plans the jobs, arranges meets with other players, and conducts the business of the group. There is an air of Roger Murtaugh from Lethal Weapon about her: maybe she’s getting too old for this shit. Alex is the impulsive one who’s head is always in the clouds or anywhere else then where it’s needed. In the middle of a job she might take a call to deal with getting jilted by a lover. Alex is horny, mischievous, and a force of bisexual chaos.

Despite Carol’s frustrations with the dynamics of her partnership, her and Alex love each other and do work well together. When Carol decides to bring in a third member for a job, the motorcycle expert Sam joins the family.

Spending a couple of paragraphs on the characters should tell you the direction of the story. It’s more interested in the characters, their relationships, and the time in-between jobs. There is a strong hangout vibe to the story. Which isn’t to say that the book skimps on the action. I mean hell, if you ever saw the pyramid in front of the Louvre and wondered about a motorcycle using it as a ramp to crash into the museum in a way that even Evel Knievel would deem reckless, this is the book for you.

I think it’s a good idea to mention the tone of the story also. There’s a lot of banter and action but it also bounces between serious and comedic tones. While they are successful thieves, they are also a little bit bumbling and their own worse enemies. They are experts in getting out of messes that they themselves are responsible for getting into. But here I think of French comedic crime movies like A Full Days Work (1973), Santa Clause is a Stinker (1982), Keep an Eye Out (2018), Buffet Froid (1979), and Crime Spree (2003). Which isn’t to say that The Grande Odalisque is like these films but that maybe French audiences are more comfortable with these tonal swings co-existing in the same story.

If you don’t mind, or even desire, a story that coasts on vibes, this will work for you. Me personally, I love it.

But wait, there’s more.

There is also a sequel to The Grande Odalisque called Olympia and a film adaptation called Wingwomen (2023) that is sitting on Netflix right this very second.

At the end of The Grande Odalisque the fellowship is broken. There is grief and frustration and squabbles. What remains of the trio carry on as best they can but they are not the same. Then they get back together because this isn’t some kind of dour crime story. But there’s a new member and another to consider.

After pissing off an Italian Mafia boss, the group is on the hook. Each of their three lives in exchange for a stolen painting, three in total.

Though the usual light touch is present, Olympia has a little more process and planning than The Grande Odalisque. If you ever daydreamed in a public place about a good place to hide a body, or imagined a car chase, or thought about climbing down from an exposed vent in a museum, Olympia is for you.

The art style for both books is loose and has a sketched feel with light line work that lends itself well to the vibes stories. These books are available digitally but as usual with European albums, they look much better in print in the larger album size. Fantagraphics published both books and they should be easily available from your library.

(I originally wrote this review as part of a year end round up of world crime films at the end of 2023 At the time I write this review of Wingwomen, I actually hadn’t read the books yet, which is a little funny since I asked for more sequels. The movie is a looser adaptation that ditches some of the specifics but really works on capturing the tone. Wingwomen has been called a French Charlie’s Angels.)

Wingwomen has fairly mixed reviews but I absolutely loved it. I think it’s being judged on what it isn’t. The story sets up certain action packed, genre thrills expectations that it mostly just doesn’t deliver on. Because it isn’t that kind of movie. This isn’t an action movie (tho there is action) and is only partly a heist movie (tho heists take place). This is a movie where a getaway driver is hired onto the team then never does any actual getaway driving.

Wingwomen is first and foremost a buddy film/hangout movie. It’s not about what these characters do. Because they are very good at their jobs the jobs are always finished and even when things go sideways, these characters always prevail. So the what they do part is covered. This is about who they are. What are they like in their downtime? What are their relationships with each other? It’s about their banter and their closeness and the absolute fun that they have together. If you aren’t ready to coast on those vibes, this won’t be for you.

A story like Wingwomen lives and dies by the audience’s desire to hang out with these characters and the chemistry between the actors. The chemistry between the characters, especially Mélanie Laurent and Adèle Exarchopoulos, is off the charts.

I am aware of this movies faults but its positive qualities far outweigh them. Let me make this clear, Wingwomen is the coolest and sexiest crime flick of the year and I would gladly take 4 more of these movies

Y’all can go to hell with the 3.1 (now 3.2) Letterboxd average rating (though it’s probably accurate). I’ll be over here swooning for everyone involved.