Josephine Baker is the only reason to watch Princesse Tam-Tam

Is it worth the time?

Look, if you are a fan of 1930s cinema or just want to see Josephine Baker exist on screen, yes, press play. If you are looking for a nuanced take on culture or identity, keep walking. You’ll probably hate how the movie treats its central premise like a lighthearted joke, and honestly, the way the novelist protagonist thinks he’s a genius for ‘discovering’ a human being is pretty grating.

The whole thing feels like a stage play that got lost on its way to a movie set. The dialogue is snappy, but it's that specific brand of old-school French wit that feels like it’s trying to win a prize for being clever.

Josephine Baker is doing all the heavy lifting here. When she’s just being herself, the screen catches fire. When she’s forced to do the ‘princess’ bit, the movie sags under the weight of its own silly script.

The bits that stuck

• The way Baker dances—it's like she’s the only person in the room who actually knows what gravity is.
• The novelist character, Max, is basically a human shrug. You spend half the movie wondering why anyone listens to him.
• The wardrobe changes are ridiculous in the best way possible.

There’s this one sequence in the desert that feels weirdly detached from the rest of the film. It looks like they just dragged the camera out into the sand and said, 'Okay, just do something.' It’s messy, but it has more life in it than the stuffy parlor scenes in Paris.

It’s a bit like watching Ace of Clubs in terms of that specific vintage energy—lots of charm, not much backbone. You can almost see the gears turning in the director's head, trying to make sure nobody gets offended while still keeping the 'exotic' angle front and center. It fails, obviously.

Still, watching Baker break character to crack a smile is pure gold. She knows the material is thin, and she doesn't care. She just fills the frame anyway.

The pacing is all over the place. One minute we’re in a high-stakes social gathering, the next we’re watching someone trip over a rug. It’s not graceful, but it is human. I think I preferred the awkward bits over the polished ones.

Don’t go in expecting a masterpiece. Go in for the music and the magnetism. The rest is just filler.