When I Googled “Super Frenchie,” the first thing that popped up was “Is Matthias Giraud Alive?”
It’s a fair question, because this 37 year-old Frenchman has cheated death numerous times as one of the preeminent Ski-BASE jumpers in the world. It’s what it sounds like: you pack a parachute, then ski off the end of a mountain top, freefall a bit, then deploy your chute.
If all goes well. You survive. But not everyone does; BASE jumping is the most dangerous sport in existence. In the Super Frenchie doc, Giraud starts off doing BASE jumps and is hooked. Growing up in the French Alps, he was already an expert skier, combining the two seemed like the way forward for him and his adrenaline addiction.
Of course, a film like this is impossible without a vast cache of amazing archival footage, and there are plenty of breathtaking helicopter shots and helmet-mounted camera shots. For example, Giraud was the first Ski-BASE jumper to go off the Matterhorn in Switzerland. It didn’t go 100% to plan, but being able to actually see what went wrong and how he handled it is what keeps you watching.
The film follows the same path as its better predecessor, the 2018 doc Free Solo, in that it breaks away from the action to show us the person at home, his wife, his family. Having a family ups the ante, which charges up the storytelling. But does that keep a daredevil from the dare? You’ll see for yourself.
Sometimes the excess testosterone and manly man-ness inherent in these guys’ personalities becomes a cliche of the genre. But director Chase Ogden, who spent years filming and editing, was smart to wait for a loving wife and a precious son to appear to soften the edges of our subject.
These are the guys you knew in high school who would jump off of bridges and ride on the tops of cars down the highway. Only with incredible film footage.
Super Frenchie Comes to Theatres and Streaming June 4th
3 out of 4 Stars | 77 minutes | Reviewed by Kyle Osborne
