Film Festival 09 - A Christmas Tale
A Christmas Tale
Un conte de Noël, France 2008, 150m
Director: Arnaud Despleschin
Festivals: Cannes (In Competition), Toronto, New York, Vancouver,
London 2008
It may sound formulaic, but this drama of a sprawling, fractious,
three-generational family Christmas abounds with character, wit and
the filmmaker's delight in the profusion and perversity of family
ties. - BillGosden
"Out of the most ordinary ingredients - an ailing mother, estranged
adult siblings, a good meal ruined by bad behavior - the endlessly
inventive French filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin has made the old look
fresh in A Christmas Tale, his glorious, compacted Russian novel of
a movie. Of course, it doesn't hurt that Junon, the matriarch of
this sharply drawn clan, is played with crafty authority by
Catherine Deneuve. And it's a plus that Junon's three grown
children are elegantly fleshed out by leading French stars Anne
Consigny (as Elizabeth, the bitter eldest), protean Mathieu Amalric
(as Henri, the black sheep), and Melvil Poupaud (as Ivan, the
conciliatory youngest). The reunion is also attended by
Desplechin's irresistible Kings and Queen lead Emmanuelle Devos,
who nearly steals the show as Henri's bemused girlfriend, and by
Deneuve's own daughter, Chiara Mastroianni, who neatly holds her
own as a less-than-favorite daughter-in-law.
Junon has been diagnosed with leukemia, and the search for a
compatible blood donor for a risky medical procedure takes up a
fair amount of discussion in Desplechin's uncompromisingly bright,
intellectually inquisitive script. But that talk - as well as
snatches of literature and journals read aloud, dreams recounted,
memories revisited, and an amateur theatrical production staged by
Junon's little grandsons - is why we love this party in the first
place& The movie is enchanting." - Lisa Schwarzbaum,
Entertainment Weekly
In French with English subtitles
